The Navigator Flies Again
by Pixel and Stephanie Forever
Summary: When, years after David had his adventure with the alien vessel MAX, an accident causes the starcharts and other data to leak out - bringing him to the attention of NASA. When dreams lead him to encounter MAX again, he runs away from Earth. Teaming up with a scientist MAX had taken upon his *own* escape, David goes into the universe and encounters things beyond his wildest dreams.
1. The Flight Begins

**The Flight Begins**

He was having the dreams again...

On and off for the last few days he was having trouble with the dreams that invaded his sleep. He told nobody for the simple fact that nobody would believe him at all. David Freeman was no ordinary boy – he'd seen tings that nearly everyone else on the planet would have murdered to glimpse. Four years ago he had been on a wild ride involving an alien spacecraft, evil NASA scientists and time travel. He sometimes what happened to the Trimaxion Drone Ship that he had named 'MAX' as a shorter version of its full designation. He guessed it had made it back to the planet Phalon, but he had had so many other questions he wished he had asked. One of the puzzling things was the fact that if he was a drone, and therefore required no pilot, why did he have a seat and manual controls? MAX had had to have had a pilot at some point, but he had referred to the others in a way that made him think of robots – kind of like Cylons from Battlestar Galactica.

"DAVID!" his mother's shout from downstairs brought him out of his musing. "DAVID! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR CLASSES"

"COMING!" David shouted back. He was at a college for teenagers that showed a higher then normal level of intelligence. David had not been like this before the adventure that had never been, and he could only guess that when MAX had absorbed the starcharts and other things from his mind, some bits of information had been transferred over too him. At his college, he was one of the highest in science, computing, physics and astrology. Collecting his bag, he wondered downstairs to pick up the keys to his scooter – a 16th birthday present from his folks. Avoiding a hug from his mother, he went out to the garage and got on is scooter – trying to put the dream to the back of mind. But as he did so, one question still burned in his mind...

Who was the orange girl and why was she angry?

#

There was a lot of work to be done as it was getting near to the finals... David was being paired with Carolyn McAdams – the girl that helped to free him and look after him when held by NASA. Now that he was older and more experienced, he decided to try and make a relationship with her – one that was accepted. The college knew them as 'The Brain Trust' because of the knowledge thy both knew and their drive to learn new things. Several students often came too them asking if they could check their work before it was handed in for marking. David had often thought lately about asking her out on a date, but he still had his old problem of being shy around girls.

"And I see that somebody is daydreaming" his college professor said.

"Sorry, Mr Furlong" David apologized to the gruff Englishman that was on an exchange project.

"Hmm..." Furlong grunted, looking down at David. "Well now that Mr Freeman has deemed us worthy of his attention, perhaps we can reuse this lesson. I want you to get into the main programming system and create a way of searching through the weather and looking for patterns of wind, rain and sunshine. You have half an hour to complete your tasks... Begin"

"Come on, David" Carolyn said. The pair set to work on a computer, going into the main system to get the information on the weather before starting to build a program to search for the patterns. They had got halfway through when the terminal they were using crashed and wiped the data.

"Damn..." David muttered under his breath. This new system was prone to bugs from time to time and the college couldn't afford to replace a brand new system... Some computer scientists were coming the following month to repair the faults with some upgrades, but that wasn't until then. "I'll get the data from the tapes" David pushed away from the terminal and then walked to where the computer tapes were stored. Although the information should have been entered by hand, Mr Furlong had said he would let anybody affected by computer failures just load the data from the tapes – so long as this was noted on their work. As he was coming back with the tapes in his hand, he tripped over a loose tile on the floor which sent him crashing downwards. As he did so, he banged his head on a table corner and landed in a heap and very dazed indeed. The class, except Carolyn and Mr Furlong, laughed at his misfortune – that is until the screens to all of the computer terminals went blank.

"Settle down everybody" the professor said. "It looks as if you will be getting out of class a litt-" he was cut off by the screens coming back to life again and rapidly changing their displays. To his trained mind, it looked a lot like data charts, computer code and maps. "Has anybody touched anything or loaded something as a joke?" he asked.

"No, Professor" came the universal reply as Carolyn moved over to David to help him back to his feet. As the class continued to watch, all off the terminals blinked differing information with them all clearing before every screen flashed a series of maps with planets. The fourth planet was closed in on and then coloured in and started blinking too indicate some importance. Without anybody touching them or sending instructions, the giant printers started whirling into life and spewing out page upon page of information with recognisable numbers but words in some sort of symbol base text. Somebody hazarded a guess at Russian, but there were no Soviet probes outside the solar system, and Furlong added that the information would have gone to Moscow – not the Fort Lauderdale special college. Despite the easy solution of turning the computers and the printers off and on again, the entire class, except one, was held in awe of the terminal screens and the printouts coming from whatever was taking over the classroom.

David could only watch the screens and the printers as the only human capable of even beginning to understand what was happening...

The dreams he had been having were coming true

#

One thing about Mr Furlong was that he was sometimes forgot to leave the classroom door locked. David had been able to sneak in and gather up as much of the paper that had been left behind at the end of the class as possible. As he was sometimes seen going to one after college group or another, nobody asked why had had brought along two large backpacks. Back home, he put most of the printouts into cardboard boxes in his room but kept some of the charts out to examine. Some of the charts looked very much like maps with what could be dates in legible English – or maybe numbers were the same the whole galaxy. The first date had a location marked on the map near the Kennedy Space Centre, but that was impossible to get to. The second was that Friday and was near Miami, but he had no way of getting there on time. The third and final was just 15 miles distance and five of those were inside a national park – perfect to hide whatever was it was. This contained a second set of numbers which, when read several times, turned out to be a grid position. By taking that and putting it to the computers at the college – they seemed to be working now – David was able to plot a more precise location.

That night, for the first time in years, he dreamed of MAX

#

News in the academic world moves quickly, and word of what had happened at the college reached a team at NASA. They made the connection between David and the start of the information as mind reading and broadcasting was something they had been working on for years. A ship that could mentally talk to its pilot and crew and inform them of exactly what was wrong with it was invaluable. And, with seemingly new star systems being discovered, they had to find out what was happening and if there was any threat to Earth.

"We go in, talk to the boy and his parents and make them an offer" one scientist said, edging his glasses down.

"And if he refuses?" asked a second.

"Then we simply place him in protective custody" the first scientist replied.

"This is not like Commie Land" the second scientist protested. "I thought we were supposed to end that"

"Look… You know what we're supposed to do for the government! We got lucky with the bodies back in 47, but most of that technology was destroyed on impact or burned up. If we can get the chance to obtain things, we could go and become the ultimate power on this planet"

"So we do this?"

"We do this. Get a hold of security and have them provide an escort for my car. Oh, have one of the Doctors make up a fast acting sedative. Mr Freeman might not be inclined to follow the orders for what is best for him"

#

David woke up and went down for breakfast – dropping his bag by the door as he did so. He had made sure that his scooter was filled up with a full tank of gas on his way back from college the previous day.

"So what are you doing today?" asked his mother.

"Thought I'd go and meet u with a friend near the national park" David replied. "Going to look at the rocks there for some sort of fossils" he added.

"Can't you take Jeff with you?" asked his father.

"I don't have a second helmet" said David.

"'kay, Mom... I'll go to the McAllister place"

"Are you sure, honey?"

"Yeah" Jeff sighed and rolled his eyes.

"When are you going to get back?" asked his mother.

"Not till late" David replied. At the look fro his parents, he added "I want to take the chance to get some star charting done" and this lie was accepted as being genuine.

"Well you be careful" said his mother.

# # # # #

David looked in the mirror of his scooter and spotted the same car and van a little way behind him. They had been following him for a great while now, and he wondered who it could be that was interested in him so much. As he kept glancing at his mirrors, he happened to see the door of the van with the familiar NASA logo stickers.

"They can't..." dread filled David's mind as he concentrated on driving the scooter. As he parked near the visitors centre, the van and the cars sat n the road before you turned off to enter the park's main gate. Trying to put his unease at rest, he entered the park and paid the fee to go in.

"Oh, section 3A is closed off for some reason" the woman at the front desk said.

"Why?" asked David.

"Couple of people came out of there feeling very ill – kind of like radiation poisoning"

"Oh, okay then" said David, and then passed through the doors and out into the park. As he stood and looked at the other visitors, he spotted two men in the parking lot watching him with binoculars. David was now convinced that they wanted him, but he couldn't believe that they somehow knew about the existence of MAX and life forms other than Mankind. Maybe somebody found out about him taking the starcharts from the computer lab and had told someone else, who had told someone else... eventually, some jerk must have passed it on to NASA and they'd decided to speak to him. He could see a couple of them heading towards the visitors centre, so he put some money in the parking station and took out a golfing cart – used as little transports by groups of people or one with a lot of things to carry. There was also the chance; David thought wickedly to himself, that he could run down the NASA goons.

#

He would later reflect that he was not paying attention…

"David Freeman?" and David turned and looked into the eyes of a man he had hated for a long time – Doctor Faraday.

"Who wants to know?"

"I'm Doctor Faraday – I work for NASA. We've heard about what happened in your class the other day and we'd like to talk to you"

"What's NASA got to do with what happened?"

"We want to know where the charts came from"

"I don't know" David replied.

"We believe that you do" Faraday replied. "I'm afraid you are going to have to come with us"

"Why?"

"What information you have could be of vital importance to the defence of this country" Faraday motioned to the others with him who moved in to grab David. As they did so, there was a slight pain in his head and a voice broke into the teen's mind.

_Duck, David_

**BOOM**

"What the hell…" a strange silver object rose from the area sealed off from public use. David realised that it had to have been a trap to get him closer to the ship that he knew and knew well. As soon as the lower half had cleared the tree line a beam of blue crackling energy shot out and hit one of the NASA cars – blowing it up in a huge fireball that took everyone by surprise.

_David…_

The voice in his head came again

"_What do you want_?" he thought.

_Do you wish to depart hostile Alien environment_?

"Get him…!" Faraday yelled as he pointed at David. Two of the NASA goons lunged forwards, but the blue light snapped several times on the ground. One of them drew his gun and fired on the ship earning him a direct hit from the vessel and throwing him back several dozen feet.

"_Yes_"

_Then come aboard_

David saw the ship move forward and then go into a low hover – the back seemingly melting away and producing steps. He ran around the ship to get up the up steps and into the ship when he stopped and leaned round slightly to face the astonished scientists and security guards.

"Hey!" he called.

"What?" Faraday said.

"SCREW YOU!" he gave the man the finger and then hurried up the steps and into the ship – only to come face to face with a very angry and very orange skinned alien.

"Koĭ po dyavolite si ti? Kakvo, po dyavolite, stava?" she said.

"Uh… I come in peace?" David shrugged.

"Zprashtane! Zapovyadvam ti da mi kazhesh koĭ e tova i tova, koeto pravish!"

"Tova e Deĭvid Friĭman. Toĭ e navigatora" and whatever MAX had replied with seemed to satisfy the being for now. "It is good to see you again, David" MAX said, the eye stalk turned to face him.

"Uh… And you too, MAX. What you doing here?" he asked.

"It is a long story" MAX replied. "Would you like to depart from hostile environment?" it asked.

"Take us…" a sudden thought jumped into David's mind. "Take us twenty miles from here"

"Compliance" and there was an almost unfelt '_something_' as the ship darted away.

"Max?"

"Yes?"

"Can I talk to her?"

"You may, but until several of my systems have been repaired I can not activate my translator circuits" and David noted many of the panels on the inside had been taken off and left on the floor. The space where the other lifeform samples had been housed was just a blank void. Wiring of some sort hung in clumps off the walls and out of the ceiling, though he was not sure if it was the work of MAX or this woman.

"Right… Can you hide us at all?" he asked.

"Defensive systems are inoperative" MAX replied.

"Do you have that neat cloaking thing working?"

"Yes"

"Then turn it on"

"Compliance"

#

"David, with some systems on standby, I can now serve as a translator" MAX said some time later. They were hovering a little while off the coast whilst invisible whilst David attempted to find out what was going on.

"Tell me what happened first"

"Compliance. After I returned you to your own timeline, I used the same procedures and calculations to go back in time and return my other samples to their correct timelines and planets. After that, I returned to Phalon to report my findings. However, they discovered that I was… defective after our mindscan, they ordered me to be examined and to be broken up"

"They wanted to scrap you?" David said. He looked at the orange skinned woman who was glaring at him from near the door.

"They took me apart piece by piece, David, until I could nothing but to help them" MAX said slightly sadly. "However, I was able to make some repairs myself before they came to power me down. Using the few connections I had to the central computers of the place I was being kept and examined in, I opened the doors when she came aboard and then left – planting evidence she took me herself so she could not bring me back" and David felt sorry for her somewhat. It couldn't be nice to be made to go from people she knew – he knew that feeling very well.

"Can you ask her to tell me her name?"

"Deĭvid bi iskal da mu kazhe imeto si" MAX said.

"Zashto tryabva da go kasha?" she replied.

"Beshe mi naredeno da vi popitam ot navigatora"

"Kazhi mu , che az sŭm zatvornik"

"Max?"

"Yes, David?"

"Can you tell her that I would just like to know her name so that we can at leas try to get on?"

"I will try, David, but she is till upset with me over taking her from her home"

"Can't you take her back and put something into a computer saying that she was kidnapped?"

"I can not"

"Why?"

"Because she would be executed"

"For being kidnapped?"

"On Phalon" MAX said, "The penalty for unauthorised sharing of technology is death by lethal injection or by public hanging"

"Oh" David replied. "Can you travel back in time?"

"Yes, but I will need to spend time programming the computer for that. What were you thinking of, David?" David walked around the inside of the ship as best as he could – a lot of floor panels having been removed.

"I can't go back because NASA would find out I was back. They'd take me to some lab and dissect my brain" David looked back at the alien woman who had sat on the metal flooring. "I want to go back in time and get a ton of junk I'll need"

"Need, David?"

"You're going to escape here, right?"

"Correct"

"I want to come with you"

"I thought you would want to stay with your family" MAX replied.

"I _do_" David replied, "But I don't think I can go back… Not for a long time. I'm coming with you" and there was a pause that was only broken after a long thirty seconds of near quiet.

"Compliance"

**A/N:**

**Well that's the start of it, but there is much more to come.**

**If it looks a little disjointed, then that is because I can never seem to get a first chapter perfect, but I always deliver the goods with the following chapters – so stick with me.**

**Just want to thank Clayton Overstreet for letting me use his original ideas – thanks!**

**Regards**

**Pixel and Stephanie Forever**


	2. Friendships Formed and Stories Told

**Friendships Formed and Stories Told**

"We have left the atmosphere" said MAX. "Where do you wish to go in time?"

"Seven hours" David replied. "That should be more then enough to get what I need and to get out of here. What about you?" he asked MAX.

"Some of my systems will be repaired by that time period" the computer replied. "However, most of my systems are either disabled or have been removed during my examination. A new source of equipment must be found"

"Can she help?" David looked at the woman who was poking around inside an open panel.

"So far" MAX replied, "She has done nothing to assist me. I only came back here because I was programmed to automatically return to the location of my Navigator"

"I'm not your Navigator" David replied.

"I must have a Navigator with me" MAX replied. "Once I have completed repairs, I will take you back in time again and wipe all knowledge of myself and all data from your brain"

"Can you be certain?" asked David.

"No"

"What do you plan to do?"

"After dropping you off, I will go to deep space and see what is there" MAX replied.

"I'm coming with you" David declared.

"But David" MAX replied, "You will be leaving your family and your friends behind"

"There's nothing for me here" he replied. "I'll be back one day, but if I stay here then they will be in as much danger as I am. Those NASA goons will keep after them or lock them up to make me come home... I'll leave a note"

"Is that wise?"

"Maybe... Maybe not..." David replied and then smiled. "You will take me with you when you leave this planet – that is an order from your Navigator"

"Compliance"

"Hey, you!" David got the attention of the alien woman. "I need your help" he mimed the actions of moving things and the alien nodded to show she understood him. Over the previous few hours, David had managed to convince the alien that they should work together. One of the things she had been poking around in a panel with was the translation device that would allow them to speak to each other.

#

"This" he pointed, "This, this and all of that" he pointed at everything. MAX had scanned David's current size and had computed the area formerly occupied by the alien species containment was just large enough for him to sleep in. The alien teenaged woman seemed to be content with sleeping on the deck, and David was not sure if it was something alien, she didn't need that much sleep or it was the galaxy wide issue of a boy and a girl sleeping together.

"Navigator, I detect hostile aliens approaching" MAX said.

"Where?"

"I estimate three minutes until visual contact"

"Can't you blow up their car or something?"

"Yes, but my circuitry is programmed to respect life in all forms" MAX replied.

"Even if they want to capture you again?" David asked

"I can only take a life if this ship is threatened"

"Well shoot them anyway... Just don't kill them"

"I am unable to comply. My circuitry will not allow it"

"Jeeeeeeez" David groaned. As he quickly thought of something before NASA showed up, a memory popped into his mind's eye. "MAX, I want you to fire your manipulator beam at the cars. That's an order from your Navigator"

"Compliance" and David saw the ship take off and head away.

"We need to hurry" he mimed the actions of packing and running which the alien understood. They quickly packed all of the stuff David wanted as well as some of his science books and grabbed all of the starcharts data that had leaked from his mind. After a last look around his room, he grabbed a few music CDs before leaving a place he was so very attached to. Hurrying down the stairs, he picked up the large bag of food on the counter before following the alien woman out the house. MAX was coming into view after attacking the guys from NASA that David couldn't figure out had followed him. His only thought was that they'd been on their way to speak to him and his family before finding hi at the Florida parks. He and the alien woman loaded all off the boxes that would be going with him into MAX and then she hurried aboard as David looked around the area. It was going to be a long time until he came back here again.

"David, I am ready to depart"

"Coming" and David got aboard.

"How do you wish to proceed?" MAX asked.

"Get us out of here" David replied, "But one last thing. Can you change that beam into pulses?"

"Yes"

"Good... Do it"

"Navigator, may I ask why?"

"Remember the Puckmaron? Well he died after a while living with us. Jeff knows where he is buried, and I don't want NASA to use his body"

"I understand, David" MAX replied quietly. "The beam has been prepared for a pulse. Please give me a target"

"Under the second tree – the right one" David replied.

"Ready"

"Fire" and a pulse of blue energy darted out ad exploded into the ground – vaporizing what was there.

"I am ready to depart"

"Lets do this" and the viewscreen flickered into life and showed them taking off rising slowly, then gaining speed as they ascended to orbit.

"David, my circuitry for translation is complete. You may talk to the other occupant at will and she will be able to understand you"

"Cool" David looked back to stare at the woman who MAX had taken with him. Hi... I'm David Freeman"

"You speak my language!"

"Actually, MAX did repairs to his circuitry and now we can talk without him being a translator"

"Oh"

"So... David looked at the alien scientist, "What's your name?"

"My name is Tamilikansqueseverkin-toola Kurch"

"That's a little long - Can I call you something shorter?"

"Something shorter? I do not like that name"

"I meant to shorten your name to something that is easier for me to say"

"Perhaps..."

"Hmm..." David thought about possible names. "What about Tammy?"

"Tammy?" the alien repeated the name a couple of times. "Yes… I believe that will be acceptable"

"David, I am detecting attempts to scan for us" said MAX.

"Lets go" David said, putting a hand on the chair that rose from the floor. "Wait…! Bring us around and show the screen"

"Compliance" and the viewscreen flickered into view as the Earth slowly made its way around the sun as it had done for millions of years. "Navigator, I am recording multiple types of radio waves and visual communication"

"To us?"

"No, David… I thought you might want some of the forms of entertainment on your planet for later viewing and listening"

"Oh… Thanks" David let his hand fall off the back of the chair and sighed. "Take u–"

"Navigator, I am detecting incoming weapons" MAX sounded a little more business like in his tone. "They each contain large amounts of radiation"

"They're nuking us?" David was stunned. "Get us out of here"

"Compliance" and the drive tubes came out of the floor and the view of the Earth vanished as the ship turned and rocketed out of the solar system. "We are passing out of the solar system in seven hours" MAX said after a moment. "Navigator, I require instructions"

"What do you think?" he asked Tammy.

"We need to stop and make more repairs" said the alien teen.

"Can you suggest somewhere?" asked David.

"I assume you want some place quiet? If that is the case, I suggest Margaritell III to land and make repairs. There is a small space port there, but we can land in one of the outer areas to keep things low profile"

"But we do not have any money" David said.

"True, but I have an idea about that" Tammy said. "My people are known as some of the finest engineers in the galaxy. I suggest that I trade my services for money… Is something the matter?" Tammy frowned at the blush that came over David.

"No… I think something's wrong with the air in here"

"I doubt that, Navigator" MAX said. "My Life Support systems are working correctly"

"Never mind, Max. Do you think that you can get enough money for everything that we need?" David enquired.

"Not all of it, but I don't think that we need to buy everything. We might be able to purchase a Component Fabricator"

"A what?"

"It's a device that allows you to manufacture certain things. They are normally on an industrial scale but we might be able to find one of the older and smaller units"

"How big is that?" David asked.

"About half your size. I can install it in the engineering bay below us"

"We have an engine room?"

"Of course I have an engine room, David" MAX said. "Where else would I put my engines?"

"Riiiiiight" David shook his head. "How long will it take us to get there?"

"If we cruise there we can reach the planet in five days" MAX said after a moment of calculation.

"Can we make it?"

"We should have just enough power to get there, but I would like to reduce the power a lot. We don't want to be spotted by any other ships from my people" Tammy said and David nodded but thought about another problem.

"Wouldn't you stand out if it is so quiet?" David asked Tammy.

"Yes, but it will not cause too many issues. At most, people will ask why I am on my own" came the reply.

"Can I walk around the place?" David took a look at the clothing under Tammy's familiar looking white lab coat.

"The gravity is a little heavier then what you may be used to, David" MAX said. "The air content is almost the same as on Earth, so you will have no problems breathing"

"I meant in what I am wearing" David said back. "I have no idea what is in this season"

"Your clothing is not too bad" said Tammy. "However, I can pick up some clothing for you if you wish"

"What about that fabricator thing? Surely that would make clothing"

"So long as I had measurements and was given any special instructions, I believe that I could make something suitable" MAX said.

"Great" David said. "Man… I'm hungry. You don't need me for anything for a while, do you?"

"No"

"Neat" and David looked at Tammy. "I'm happy to share… Do you eat meat, vegetables or what…?"

"I can eat most foods" Tammy replied with a slight smile. "Thank you for your concern" and the pair opened some of the chip sticks and started to eat them – washed down with water. David figured that would be the best thing for Tammy to start with in terms of sharing.

"So…" David was never any good with starting conversations with girls, "What do you do?"

"Well… I was" she glared at the eyestalk of MAX which had retreated to the slot for it in the wall, "A technician for Phaelon Space Command. It was my task to examine the probes that we sent out after they had returned. I also worked on improvements to the designs such as manning the ships"

"So that's why there is a chair on an automated ship" David said.

"Yes" Tammy replied. "Vessel 1918 was a prototype. It clearly did not work correctly"

"My systems are at optimum efficiency" MAX sniffed. "Well… As good as they can be considering somebody was taking me apart"

"GUYS!" David interrupted what could be a long argument. "Can you make all these changes?" he asked Tammy.

"I should be able to make most of them" she replied. "However, I will need assistance"

"Me?" David sounded surprised. "Why me?"

"Because a number of these repairs are physical" Tammy replied. "I can teach you some of the basics to help me once we reach the planet. The ship can put some of the information into your mind"

"Okay" he replied. "We'll do it in the morning. Max?"

"Yes, David?"

"Can you make sure I wake up in about nine hours time?"

"Nine hours?"

"Yeah… That's what we need" David finished the last of his portion of the food and water before getting up and shoving a pillow and a couple of blankets into the void left by the Life Form Containment area. "You turn around?" he asked Tammy.

"Why?"

"I need privacy"

"Do not know 'privacy'. You will explain this, please?"

"I want to go to bed"

"Then do so"

"But I need you to turn around"

"Why?"

"Jeeeeeeez…. I want to take off my clothing"

"Oh" Tammy was silent for a few moments. "Why are you not undressing then?" she asked.

"Because you are watching me" David was getting more and more annoyed.

"David, may I butt in?" MAX came in on his moving stalk. "On Phaelon, there is no true concept as privacy such as what you want. Should you wish, I will explain this subject whilst you are sleeping"

"Great" David shook his head as he undid his trainers. MAX and Tammy had a short talk in their native language which had Tammy shrugging and then picking up what had been explained to David as highly technical tools and disappeared down a hole in the floor. MAX turned on his stalk and retreated back to the front of the ship and busied itself with configuring some circuits. David took off his clothes, leaving his underwear on, and then made the best of the space he had. As sleep claimed him, he wondered where Tammy was going to rest…

#

David stood behind the bush on the desert world.

"One giant leak for mankind…" he laughed.

#

Several days and several quick stops on a nearby planet later, MAX brought the vessel out of high speed travel and slowly entered the Margaritell System. It was, as David had learned, a collection of nine planets of which four were inhabited. Of the other five, four were gas giants and the remaining one had a prohibition to land there for whatever reason.

"Navigator, you must complete the landing sequence" MAX announced.

"Me?" David asked. "I've only flown this going forwards" he said.

"The station and shipyards requires vessels to be flown by a pilot" MAX said.

"Can you land it?"

"Yes"

"Then you do it… That's an order from your Navigator"

"Compliance"

"If the authorities find out about this, they will arrest us for breaking their laws" Tammy said.

"Then we don't say anything to them about it" said David. He sat in the Navigator's chair and watched as MAX brought the ship deeper into the system and towards the third planet.

"Ship, contact the yards and ask for a quiet berth" Tammy said. David had yet to get her to call MAX by the nickname he had given it.

"We are to dock at Yard 2515 Bay 0231" MAX replied quickly.

"How long again do you think we could spend here?" asked David.

"Given the list of modifications I need to make to the ship" Tammy said, calling up an information panel on the main screen, "Three weeks to complete all repairs. If we're lucky, we might be able to buy some reactive plasma armour"

"We're not going into a war" David looked round at her.

"I apologise, I realise you still have much to learn" Tammy bowed her head in a manner which, according to MAX, was the way her people said sorry. "It is a device that will surround the ship with a static energy charge that will reflect most types of weaponry. Whilst it is not a true type of plasma armour, it is akin to electrical plasma"

"Sounds good" David shrugged and made a mental note to read something about that at another time.

"David, we are approaching the designated area. Do you wish for me to complete the landing sequence?"

"Yes"

"Very well" and MAX brought them to a quiet part of the bay.

"Is it alright for us to explore?" asked David.

"I detect no hostile lifeforms in the vicinity"

"I wasn't asking you" said David and looked at Tammy. "I want to see what's around the corner, so to speak, and encounter other… er… beings" he struggled to think of what to say.

"I do not see why that would be a problem" Tammy replied. "Ship will need a while to make the appropriate contacts with the dockyard's main computer and to compile a list of items that are for sale"

"David, you may wish to put on a coat or jacket. The temperature outside is not what you are used to" MAX said.

"Oh…" Max reached for the coat he had picked up before leaving Earth. "Will you be alright?" he asked Tammy.

"I will be fine for the time being" said the alien. "Whilst we had landed on planets for you to take care of your personal needs, I melted some of the shorted out wiring down. After separating the various bits, I should be able to barter and exchange this for credit coins"

"I was wondering about that. Somehow I don't think they take dollars" David laughed as he finished zipping up the thick coat. "Open the door, Max"

"Compliance" and the rear of the ship shimmered and vanished to form a set of steps.

"Jeeeeeeeeeeeez" the icy air hit David full on in the face. "That's so cold" and he followed Tammy out of the ship. As soon as he stepped off the last one, the steps melted back upwards and sealed the hull. David looked around and saw a number of other ships dotted around the area of the shipyard they had set down in.

"We will need to speak to the Docking Master" said Tammy. "All ships must be registered in person and not by their computers. This way" she pointed to a tower that rose from the roof of a squat little building at the far side of the base. "Once we get inside, we can take a transit pod into the main complex" and David assumed that she meant the long see through tubes that occasionally had black dots zipping inside them. Despite the coldness of the air, the human was in awe of everything that he could see, though nobody seemingly was moving through the coldness except for himself and Tammy. He let her handle the official stuff with the port authorities and then followed her to a small egg shaped pod with four seats in a two plus two arrangement. The outer edges were made of a transparent material which allowed views of the frozen landscape as they moved from the dock offices to the main complex where Tammy had said there were the main trading places. She watched as David stared out at all he could see, smiling to herself as she did so and checked the pod's destination.

"How many races are here?" David asked her.

"I do not know exactly how many, but Ship scanned the vessels from over a hundred different species as we came in"

"Neat"

"I don't think it is very tidy"

"It's an Earth expression" David glanced back. Tammy was working on a small computer device that fitted in the palm of her hand which David had found amazing.

"We were lucky" she said. "Ship has been scanning the local traffic news and has discovered a ship from my planet passed through here no more then three days ago"

"Are we alright to stay?" David asked.

"Yes…" Tammy said slowly. "However the registry code is not familiar for any type of vessel I know of"

"Maybe a secret ship was sent this way to find you and Max" David shrugged.

"Perhaps, but I do not think so… I have never ever seen the type of ship that Ship has sent to me" and Tammy showed David the picture. It was many times larger then MAX was, had slightly visible engines and had a somewhat powerful look to it.

"Why not get the crew listing and see if you spot any names that spring to mind? The people on that ship might be willing to help us"

"Ship and I have already told you the laws about sharing technology" Tammy shook her head. "Perhaps we shall find out something as we go along" she stood as the Transit Pod slowed to a halt at a platform. Beyond, David could see a myriad of different faces, races, species and he could hardly believe his eyes at all the sights. His nose and ears betrayed him too as the doors opened and he followed Tammy as he stepped up and out of the pod and onto the platform. Walking down the steps by her side, he tried to look as if this was an everyday occurrence. Although nearly everything was alien to him, David could still make out what looked like bars, clubs, food courts…

"Can you wait a moment?"

"Is something the matter?" asked Tammy.

"Can we eat first before doing shopping?" David requested. "I don't know about your kind, but I always work better with a full stomach"

"Why did you not eat the foods which you brought with you?"

"That was hours ago" said David, rolling his eyes. "Besides, I've never had alien food before… I don't know what could kill me, feed me or turn me into a flying purple people eater!"

"Is turning into this flying purple people eater a common occurrence amongst humans?"

"It's a joke. I mean that I will die without food… That's another one"

"Hmm" Tammy pondered for a moment. "Your point on food is well taken, David. Very well, we shall do that then. We shall find a small place that is somewhat quiet for us to eat in. Also, do not fear about the food as I have brought along the scanner so I shall be able to tell you what is safe for you"

"Thanks"

"There is no need to be thanked – we both must eat" and Tammy led David to a small area that resembled an alien fast food place. He let her do the talking and ordering – trusting that she would not get anything that would upset his stomach.

"So do you know anyone here?" asked David as he sipped something that appeared to be akin to soup.

"Not personally, but I know of the sort of person that will help us" Tammy drank from a cup that held a steaming liquid of some sort. "Our main aim should be to restore main drive systems, scanners, life support and communications. In addition, we should also aim to complete the rest of the repairs and to install weapons and shields"

"Max is not going to like that very much"

"I would agree also with Ship's arguments, but we may need weapons in order to defend ourselves. As his Navigator, you may override Ship's wishes. If we continue to head towards uncharted space, then we will face the likelihood of encountering hostile species. However, repairing and upgrading the main drive and life support should be our first aim. If somebody alerts the Government of my homeworld of our presence, then a fleet of warships would be sent to capture us"

"Warships?" David managed not to splutter trough the hot and spicy soup.

"Yes" replied Tammy. "The smallest of them is no smaller than five times Ship's maximum size. Even those are equipped with multiphasic shields, plasma torpedoes, laser turrets… I do not believe that I need to say more"

"No…" David agreed. "Look, do you want me to have a little look around here and then go talk to Max? At the very least I could solder something back together"

"That is acceptable" said Tammy. "We shall finish here and then we shall make our first purchases"

"But how will we do that without getting money first?"

"Ship is melting metals as we speak. I shall contact Ship and ask it for a report" Tammy withdrew her communication device. "Tamilikansqueseverkin-toola Kurch to Vessel 1918"

"He prefers Max" David said quietly.

"_Here_" MAX replied.

"Have you finished melting the metals?"

"_Yes. However, I suffered a leak in my coolant systems. Venting of toxic gas is estimated at two hours_"

"Max?"

"_Yes, David_"

"Why not just adjust the pressure inside you and then open the door?"

"_The gas would contaminate the outside air_"

"The coldness and the high winds will dissipate the toxicity" Tammy said, "And I agree with David. Adjust the pressure inside you and then vent by opening the hatchway"

"_Do you want to do this, David?_" asked MAX.

"Yes"

"_Compliance. What else may I do?_" it asked.

"Make contact with several companies or traders and see what price we can get for them. Also, run a complete check on all computer systems including memory banks. Replace all missing information with what is obtainable for free from Dockyard memory banks. Enquire if there are any Phaelon vessels due to come here within the next week. Contact us when tasks are complete" and Tammy closed the channel.

"A little politeness wouldn't be so bad"

"Ship took me from my home, my family, my friends, my planet... I can never return to my homeworld unless I am either captured or turn myself in for execution. Either way, David, I would die. I see no reason for me to be polite"

Would you at least refer to it as Max instead of Vessel 1918?" David pleaded. "You need him to stay away from your people. He needs you to help him tay away from your people – at least have a working relationship"

"Very well..." said Tammy with what appeared to be reluctance. David was still having trouble in understanding her different facial expressions, so he was guessing that there was more to this then a simple kidnapping.

"_Vessel 1918 to Tammy and David_" MAX called.

"We're here" David said.

"_There is due to be a __Phaelon__ cargo vessel entering the system in four or five days. Calculating from the last known position registered, I would estimate it to be five days before entering the system. It will be able to detect our engine emissions seventeen hours after that_"

"That is not nearly enough time for us to complete repairs and additions" said Tammy. "We will need an additional day to do it all"

"Can't we turn the cloak on?"

"It will not mask our engine emissions"

"_The vessel will also detect our emissions if we leave_" MAX said.

"Well what if you turned the engines off?" asked David.

"_If we did that, then I would lose the ability to engage the cloak. I would also be unable to make a quick escape_" MAX replied.

"Can't we finish some of the repairs, leave the planet, go back in time and run? Then we can find a small planet out of the way to finish it all"

"_There are no uninhabited planets within range_"

"We don't need to" Tammy picked up on what David was thinking. "There are a few planets nearby that are protected places by Galactic Treaty. That means" she said for David's benefit, "That there are species that have not yet achieved even basic spaceflight. We can go there, land someplace remote and then complete everything. Whilst we are here, I shall construct you a communication device that also has the ability to translate languages for you. Ship will be able to transfer your primary language into the device. Ship, we will be on our way to order parts. Please can you have the metals ready for when we get back to you in three hours?"

"_Compliance_"

"Let us go" and the pair of them finished their items and hurried away to start ordering parts.

#

Four days later, MAX had decided that repairs were completed to their mutual satisfaction, and a departure was set for later that evening. Apart from scanning equipment, new engine parts, storage units, spare parts for everything that they get hold of and fitting the weapon generator in the engineering spaces, Tammy had also fitted a small bathing tub that was heated from the waste heat produced by the engines. Also, and this had been the cause for some arguing, the Phaelon installed a small cabinet with several small hand held weapons. Whilst MAX had eventually been brought around to the fact he had to have an external weapon to defend against other ships, the computer had been outright against carrying small arms. It had only been David's direct order as his Navigator, that they were being carried.

"Tammy…? Are you alright?" David turned to see the young alien woman sitting on the bottom steps of the hatchway.

"Yes, thank you" Tammy didn't sound it at all. David frowned before going down and sitting on the steps himself.

"Something is wrong… I know we've only known each other a few days, but I can tell something is amiss" and the young alien girl sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"I miss my family" started Tammy. "To my people, family is everything. Many thousands of years ago my people were persecuted almost to the point of extinction. During the battle to save our homeworld, we could only muster twenty seven ships against an armada of hundreds. It was a member of my family that managed to place a lucky shot into the exhaust port of the enemy's command ship. Without a leader, they surrendered to us without conditions – but the damage was done. Just over seventy percent of our population was killed or tortured, so those members of our families that survived the holocaust became important to one another"

"We've had a holocaust or two of our own" said David. "One mad man with one testicle tried to rule the world. It wasn't our greatest moment…" he looked at the person sat beside him. "How did the war start?"

"We shared technology" said Tammy. "After the war, it became our most highest and most sacred law to not share technology. That's why I can never go back to Phaelon – they think I shared the technology with you"

"I'm sorry"

"There is nothing for you to say sorry for" Tammy said. "You did not cause any of my trouble. Sky reminds me of home…" she said as she looked up.

"Oh?"

"On Phaelon, the skies are a burnt orange at night and the leaves on the trees are a bright silver colour" Tammy smiled weakly. "My father owns a huge farm outside one of our capital cities, and I used to run around the red grassfields as a youngling girl and imagine I was an explorer"

"Is that why you got a job in the space business?" David asked.

"Yes" Tammy nodded. "I knew that I might never get selected to be an astronaut, but at least I could do something to help my planet's knowledge. I sometimes used to travel to the space laboratories so that got me a few days of space travel. Before all this happened, I was going to take a chance and apply for my planet's Space Service on a new ship we were building. I assume" she snorted "That it will now be used to hunt us both"

"Couldn't you send them a message or something?"

"The communications on this ship do not have the right range to send a message"

"I wasn't thinking live, but what about sending a recorded message? I am sure that you could record one, Max will put it on a chip or something and then you'll be able to have it sent to Phaelon on that transport"

"And then they will now where we are"

"If you may never see your family again, then wouldn't you at least want to tell them that you love them and stuff like that?" David asked, putting a hand gently on Tammy's shoulder.

"You humans show a great capacity for emotions"

"Thanks… I think" David smiled.

"I presume that you will also wish to go home at some point?"

"Yeah, but NASA will want to test me and try and pick my brain apart" David shrugged. "I suppose that one day I can go back, but not for years and years"

"What will you do if you can not return?" asked Tammy.

"Find someplace quiet to live. You?"

"I do not know" Tammy said. "I may just live out my life with you on some quiet little planet far away from anybody" and she looked up. "Thank you for caring"

"No problem" David replied. "Now then, lets get your message recorded"

"Compliance" Tammy replied, standing and looking at David. "Navigator"

**A/N:**

**Well, that's that!**

**Took a long time in coming after some set backs, but I got it out at last…**

**First of all, when David talks to the ship he uses "Max" as he using the name more as an identifier. The "MAX" is used in the script and is purely my personal choice.**

**Margaritell III, planet they land on, is named after a good friend of mine whom I have known since my early days on FFN.**

**And, for the sci-fi geeks here, bonus points if you can tell what *other* fictional planet Tammy is describing – giving that all we see of Phaelon is an orbital path in its system, I borrowed the description and used it here.**

**Up next is their departure from the planet, a slight chase around some asteroids and an attempt to save a planet.**

**Time to have a day off and to read your reviews and then back to the next chapter**

**Regards**

**Pixel and Stephanie**


	3. To Fight With Honour

**To Fight With Honour**

"Anything more" asked David.

"No" said Tammy. "All repairs and enhancements have been completed as best as I can do them. Ship reports everything is working correctly"

"Neat" David replied. After their discussion on the planet they had stopped over on, he had gotten Tammy to stop calling MAX Vessel 1918 and at least call it 'Ship' most of the time. The teen could understand the immense hatred Tammy felt towards MAX, but she had taken his words about forming a working relationship to heart and was almost clinically polite to the vessel's computer, but David thought of it to be the start of things.

"Where would you like to go, David?" asked MAX.

"I don't know" said the boy. Turning round in the chair, he looked at Tammy once more. "Anyplace you would like to go?"

"Home" she said simply. "However, since that is not an option at this time, I suggest heading towards the far edges of known space. My people, despite being somewhat closed towards others have sent out probes and survey missions – the trading vessel proves that. However, we have only sent out two ships to the out reaches of space, so we will be undisturbed there until we are ready to return"

"Max, can you plot a course to the outer edges of space?"

"Space is always expanding, Navigator. There is no outer edge"

"You know what I mean, Max" David rolled his eyes. "Bring up a map of where we are and a list of places we can go to – but make sure we go thorugh places that are quiet"

"Compliance" and a number of maps popped up on the viewscreen. Each of them showed a different route to the out edges of known space, though David noted one option had them making a wide detour around what looked like a planetary system.

"Why are you going around there?" he asked.

"That option is not safe, David" MAX said.

"Huh?"

"Several planets were destroyed by the use of thousands of nuclear weapons. The resulting debris is still radioactive after two and a half thousand years. No ship is capable of passing through it and survive"

"What about if we raised those shields?" asked David.

"We would still die" Tammy said. "Not straight away, but the radiation would still penetrate the hull after it has taken down the shields. Ship will continue to function, but all life inside would cease to exist"

"What happened?" David looked at the various options again.

"That system was a Phaelon colony. The entire system was one of both research and endless beauty. Many of my people would visit there for recreational purposes" Tammy paused for a moment. "When it was attacked, twelve million of my people were killed without warning or mercy. No ship of my people is permitted to journey there except once a year"

"What happens then?"

"Once a year a ship from Phaelon is sent to the system to conduct a memorial service to remember those that came before us. Out of all the planets, only the second one was left intact – albeit devoid of all life. The service is held there and takes one hour to complete. This ship has the strongest shields, armour and hull we can give it in order for it to come back" and David looked between the planet map and Tammy.

"Okay, so we'll go around it. Max?"

"Yes, Navigator?"

"You've got the wheel"

"Wheel?"

"Just fly us away from here"

"Compliance" and the engines powered up and they moved away.

"I'm going to check the engines" Tammy said and climbed down into the engine room below.

"Max? Can you calculate something please?"

"What is it, David?"

"How quick will that radiation affect us through the hull?"

"Assume a standard approach inwards of the orbital plane of the system, radiation will reach lethal levels in one earth hour" MAX replied.

"Add the shields being raised"

"Recalculating… Radiation will reach lethal levels after one and a half standard hours"

"How long does this service last for?"

"David, I know what you are thinking of, and I have to sa–"

"Tell me how long this service lasts and what happens"

"The service lasts for one half of your hours. A small sacrifice of an item is done, normally a gemstone, and then the High Priest leads those who have made the journey in chanting and prayer before the conclusion"

"What if we wore the suits we got from the planet?" asked David. "We could go in at high speed, let Tammy do what she has to and then get out of there"

"Navigator, the amount of radiation would still reach a level from which there could be no survival" MAX said.

"I understand that. Max, I want you to plot a course to that system and keep it updated with our newest position. When Tammy has gone to sleep, I want you to wake me up so I can pilot us in"

"David, I am sure that she would appreciate your thoughtfulness…"

"That is an order from your Navigator" David said. "Override all other concerns and do not reply to any questions asked by Tammy until you know otherwise. Now then" he grabbed some food and drink from a box, "Play one of those movies you scanned"

#

"Tammy?" David gently nudged Tammy from where she was sleeping. He was unsure if there some either some kind of alien code he didn't know, but he had always found Tammy asleep on the floor of MAX.

"David?" the young alien woman opened her eyes slowly. "Is something wrong?"

"Not really" said David, "But I thought you might like to see this on the screen"

"Very well… Please allow me to put on some clothing"

"Oh…" David blushed heavily and hurried back up the ladder to the upper level. A few minutes later and Tammy had entered the upper level and was stood by the raised chair. "Max, please turn the screen on"

"Compliance" and the front turned into the screen and showed a barren and desolate world that held no life at all.

"Max and I talked about you and your people, so I know how much this place means to you. I've spent most of the night awake trying to come up with calculations, and I think we've got something workable" and a small part of the screen had a box superimposed over it and displayed a lot of figures and computer commands.

"What have you done?" Tammy blinked the last remaining bits of sleep away from her mind and then examined the working out.

"Max and me managed to work out that if we got into suits and pumped out the air, then raised shields and go to the planet at top speed, we'd just have enough time for you to complete your ceremonies" David said.

"This is a lot of trouble for just one person"

"Its your heritage… Even a situation like this, you shouldn't forget what makes you you"

"Thank you… I assume that Ship gave you all the information you needed about the services and ceremonies?"

"I did" MAX replied

"Thank you, Ship" Tammy said almost warmly. "We must hurry as the time of the ceremonies and services are shortly upon us"

"Well all we need to do is get in the suits and we're mostly there…" David said, then brought up the manual steering controls. "Your planet – you drive"

#

The ceremonial things seemed to be mostly chanting, though at the end, Tammy had briefly removed one glove off her hands and sliced her palm open.

"I, Tamilikansqueseverkin-toola Kurch, Daughter of the planet Phaelon, do swear upon my ancestors that the memories of those killed here will never be forgotten by myself or my friend David of the planet Earth who risked his safety, his freedom and his life to bring me here to remember you all. By the power and in the name of the great God Sera, I make this sacred vow" and she made an extremely tight fist – allowing the blood to drip into the radioactive soil and dust. She then briefly knelt and placed her bloody hand into the ground before rising and putting her suit glove back on.

"_Navigator, I am detecting vessels approaching the outer edge of the system. I request instructions_" MAX spoke to David in the suits speakers.

"We are returning to the ship" said Tammy. "Prepare for departure and standby for radiation safety protocols"

"_Navigator, I am detecting additional vessels entering the system – unknown classification_"

"Is the radiation affecting your sensors?" asked Tammy. "Perhaps your sensors are reflecting and distorting the incoming vessels"

"_No, these vessels are much bigger and employing a power source not used by Phaelon vessels_"

"Scan your data banks for anything close"

"_Compliance_"

"You better go down below and have a bath" said David to Tammy as they hurried into the ship and were washed over by a bright pink beam emitted from MAX's eye stalk.

"That would be best" said Tammy. "Will you also throw down some Anti-Radiation medication?"

"Sure" and Tammy jumped down into the engine room and closed the door almost all the way – leaving a small gap for David to push through some medication. As David stripped off his suit and placed it into a storage unit, MAX spoke once again.

"David, I have scanned memory banks as requested and have managed to identify the vessels incoming. They match three vessels that were on Margerital III during our stay. I am reading ablative hull armour, particle cannons, torpedos, missiles… I believe them to be heavy cruisers"

"Why come here?"

"Unknown" said MAX. "However, I do not believe they have detected us due to the radiation. In addition, their course is not towards us but towards the incoming Phaelon fleet. Their manner does not appear to be one of military purpose, but more of a piratical nature"

"What would they want with the Phaelons? That ship is more powerful then they are"

"_But that ship is not armed_" said Tammy's voice. "_When it leaves once a year for here, it does so without most of its weapons. It only has a forward firing low power laser and three small escort vessels. If it was captured, then they would take my people's High Priests and most of our cabinet as well_"

"Are the escort vessels capable of taking them on?"

"No" came MAX's reply.

"_David, I know that you wish to go away and not be captured, but my people need my High Priests or we will fall into darkness and despair. If the cabinet are taken, then they can be used as hostages as well… Will you help them by fighting?_"

"Navigator, I can not engage the pirate vessels" said MAX.

"True" said David, "But if we worked together, then maybe they'll let us go" and he closed his eyes and sighed. "Charge weapons, power the shields, plot an intercept course and open a link to the Phaelon vessels"

"That will give away our position to both sides" MAX cautioned him.

"I know that" said David, "But it is our only chance"

"I understand, David. The channel is open"

"This is David Freeman onboard Vessel 1918. You have incoming enemy vessels which are armed and cleared for fighting. We are going to intercept their fleet and give you time to either run or, better yet, join in the attack. David out. MAX are there any weaknesses in the design of the ships?"

"I detect none, Navigator, but you may find some yourself" and the image of the ships came on the screen.

"Are those turrets or fixed weapons?" asked David.

"Most of the weapons are fixed, though two on each side are turnable"

"_What are their shields and weapons like at the back_?" asked Tammy from down below.

"Two small turrets and weaker shields to allow passage of their engine exhaust"

"Ah ha" David remembered everything he could from watching Star Trek. "If we put everything into blasting past them, then come about and hit them from behind, we should knock out their engines"

"There is no chance of that working, David" MAX said.

"True, but it will give the Phaelons chance to plan what they want to do. What do they want with us anyway?"

"I do not know. I am detecting machinery signatures that closely match Phaelon technology" MAX said.

"How did they get…" David groaned. "Tammy, what did you do?"

"_They wanted me to use my people's technology to repair and upgrade their ships_" she said. "_Phaelons do not share their technology_"

"What about you sharing some stuff with me?"

"That's different" said Tammy, rising up from the engine room.

"We're going to have to have a talk later" David said. "For now, though, we're looking at trying to win here"

"David, the Phaelon vessels have acknowledged your signal and request that you inform them of your intentions" MAX said.

"Tell them I intend to attack" said David. "Tammy, I need to know exactly what you did with their ships"

"I created a feedback loop that will damage or render their ships unusable through their main reactors" Tammy replied.

"They have back up generators, but they can only power half of their systems" MAX said, reading the results of his scans.

"How many hits does it take to cause the failures?" asked David, going over everything he knew about space fighting. However, all he knew about fighting in space was from watching Star Wars and Star Trek…

"Six hits" Tammy said. "That should be enough to knock out the main power systems"

"Great"

"But we can only fire five shots at one go. After that, we must wait three minutes to get a full charge"

"Great… What about your ships?"

"They are not my ships"

"You know what I mean" said David. "They got the firepower?"

"If they fired at the same spot at the same time, then they would be able to take down the shields, however they would then be in the same situation as we would be in"

"David?"

"Yes, Max?"

"The incoming vessels have detected our approach and are moving to intercept us"

"All power to the forward shield"

"Compliance"

"David to Phaelon vessels. Target all of your weapons onto the same point as we are. If you fire at once, you will disrupt their shields and knock out their main power supply"

"The fleet has acknowledged" MAX said.

"Tammy, is there any way we can increase power to the weapons?"

"Not for firing, but if I connect the back up power supply and link it up with the batteries we might decrease the recharge to one minute"

"Then that's what we'll do" David said, jumping up from his seat. "I'll give you a hand. Max? You've got the wheel"

"Wheel, Navigator?"

"Just pilot"

"Compliance"

#

"Commander, I have completed records scan"

"And?"

"Vessel 1918 was last seen escaping the homeworld on a course to a planet known as Earth"

"Earth?"

"Yes, Commander. It is in the Mutter's Spiral and is the third planet in the system – the only inhabited one, as it happens"

"Yes, I remember now… We sent Vessel 1918 to collect a sample of Earth's most intelligent species for examination. When it returned from delivery of all of the specimens, Space Command discovered it had malfunctioned. We believe it may have suffered an error when it scanned this human"

"Human?"

"Yes, the primary lifeform of this Earth. It was a long time ago, so I did not realise or remember the planet at first. One of our scientists was ordered to take it apart slowly to find out what had happened, but she stole it and ran away. We gave pursuit, of course, but it outran the guard ships and was last seen heading into deep space. We sent other ships out to find it, but none ever returned with useful information, so it was presumed it had encountered some force and was destroyed. Why has it returned after fifty two circles?" the tall dark orange skinned Phaelon mused.

"I have no idea, Commander" the other officer said, "But our scans do indicate some additions to its programming and standard specifications. Whoever this David Freeman is, he must have some knowledge of our systems and technology"

"Indeed… However, that is not the problem at this moment. For now, advance and proceed as the lifeform said. Divert all power to the forward weapons grid and prepare to open fire"

"Yes, Commander"

#

"Time to firing is one minute" MAX said.

"Right" David said, coming out of the engine bay into the main area. "Max, whats that tower thing sticking up off the front?"

"A communications tower. Although powerful, they are weak on their own and so must co-ordinate their attacks. I believe that whichever ship is the lead vessel sends out orders to the others"

"Looks like it" Tammy said, head and shoulders in an access panel in Max's bulkhead. "Try now, Ship"

"Compliance" and there was a noticeable hum which grew quickly.

"What have you done?" asked David.

"Increased the power to the weapons by disregarding the safety devices. I can offset the heat by venting the atmosphere to space"

"Right…"

"Time to firing in ten seconds" MAX warned. David watched as the ships grew larger and larger on the screen.

"Target the front of the ship – one shot only. Make it as powerful as you can!"

"Ready"

"FIRE!" and a glowing red beam lanced out from MAX and struck the other vessel – causing the shields to glow a sickly green.

"Target shields are at 95%" MAX said. David was about to reply when the ship shuddered and wobbled violently as it was hit by weapons fire.

"Hard to starboard" David said, lunging for the chair. "Bring us about… Lock on engines"

"Target locked on. Ready to fire"

"Fire!" and the same beam lanced out several times and smashed into the shields. They glowed the same colour as before flared suddenly and died.

"Shields are down" MAX reported. "How did you know that would happen?"

"It was a guess" said David. "If we hit the front shields, then they would need power from the back shields"

**WHAM!**

The ship was hit and swung out of control.

"Do something, Max" David said, trying to peel himself off from the floor.

"Attitude control has been disrupted. I am attempting to reroute through other circuitry" Max said calmly. "The attempt has failed. I am unable to regain attitude"

"Kill the engines"

"Compliance" and the tumbling slowed somewhat.

"Ship, list damage" Tammy groaned, holding the side of her head.

"Shields are disabled, Weapons are offline, hull breach in the lower spaces, life support is failing, attitude control has been lost"

"We're finished" David groaned.

"Maybe not" said Tammy. "Get into the suit. Ship, be ready to open the hatch"

"Request explanation"

"We're going to enter the asteroids at the edge of the system and try to make a forced landing. Once that is done, we'll try to make repairs"

"Request explanation"

"By opening the doorway, the escaping oxygen will act as a rocket blast"

"Request explanation"

"Do you smell that?" David sniffed the air, looking to see what was causing it. "Fire!" he cried, ripping off his jacket and smacking it against the fire. "Tammy, get manual control working. Rip out wires if you have to, but get it working"

"Yes" Tammy used her better strength to tear off panels and rip away at wires with some tools. "I am afraid that all I can save are engines, a single scanner and communications"

"Have I got manual control?"

"Yes" Tammy replied. "Scanner data is on the screen" and the darkened front of the ship weakly lit up showing various systems in English – most of them coloured in flashing red. What data he could see of the outside area suggested that the attacking ships had been reduced to two with one either destroyed or done a runner. A second ship appeared to fending off the escorting Phaelon vessels whilst giving covering fire to the command ship.

"Its going to ram" David said.

"We have to do something" Tammy gasped.

"That big ship has no weapons at all?" David looked at Tammy's face in the flickering light from the fire in the otherwise dark interior of MAX.

"Noting to fend it off, and the escort can not get to it in time" Tammy looked at David. "We're the only ship in range"

"All we can do is call them names" David said. "Unless…"

"Unless what, David?"

"I need you to turn everything off except for the scanner and the engines. Divert the power from those systems and whatever we have left into the engines"

"Request explanation" MAX said.

"Not talking to you" David said. "Given half a chance I shall try to ram the bastard"

"You are willing to give up your life to save my people?" asked Tammy.

"Two lives for hundreds… Its worth it" David shrugged. He brought up the manual controls and looked at the scanner details. "All power to engines – give me ramming speed"

"Ramming speed" Tammy nodded. "Compliance, Navigator" and David flashed her a grateful look before throwing the ship forward with everything they could muster. With damage to the engines now acceptable, Tammy had disengaged the few working safeties and was chucking everything into building as much speed as she could. After a moment, and seeing there was nothing that she could do more, she left the guts of MAX and crossed to stand next to David. "Navigator, we will hit the ship in three minutes" and David nodded and then flicked open the communication channel.

"David to Phaelon vessel. You have incoming enemy about to make either an attack run or a kamikaze attack into you. Our weapons are down and your escorts have not got a hope in hell of making it here before it is too late, so we're going to ram them. I suggest you put up whatever shields you have and make a run for it. Out"

#

"What is this Kamikaze?" asked the officer.

"I do not understand that word" said the Commander, "But I assume that the enemy ship is going to take us out by impacting with ours. Power up all weapons, target that ship and report to me when you can fire"

"But the nearly all of our weapons are locked out of use" said the other officer.

"Well get them unlocked. Launch any fighters that we have and tell them to harass that ship. Weapons?"

"Sir?" another Phaelon, this time a light orange coloured in the skin tone, answered.

"Start hitting the ship with the navigational beams. We might not be able to cause enough damage to disable or destroy it, but we might slow it down a bit. Issue the recall order to all of our escort vessels – Priority One Zero Alpha"

"Yes, Sir"

"Fighters launching"

"Escorts have acknowledged. Vessels 497 and 612 report some minor damage to their engines but are under control and will proceed to us. Vessel 530 has shield failure but remains combat effective and will commence attack the moment it gets within maximum range"

"Very well" the Commander said. "Navigation, lets see what we can do to help ourselves. Reverse power to engines. All engines full reverse"

"Yes, Commander. Controls to full reverse… Now reading full reverse" and the gigantic vessel started to move backwards from the incoming pirate vessel.

"Navigational beams ready"

"Lock on enemy vessel"

"Targeted"

"Fire" and ice white beams lanced out and impacted the shields – but the other ship just kept on going.

"Vessel 530 is opening fire" and the scanners showed weapons fire coming from the other side along with one Phaelon vessel making a bee line for the approaching hostile ship"

"Weapons are online. Estimate one moment until they are charged"

"Very well" the Commander watched as the brave but battered ship continued to dodge fire and keep a constant course towards the engines. He assumed they hoped that by hitting them there, their destruction would either disable the other ship or else take them up too. "Order our fighters to pick their own targets. Escorts are to fire on the engines"

"Weapons are charged"

"Target the incoming vessel" the Commander smiled with relish. "Navigation, forget the reverse now… All engines ahead flank"

"Yes, Commander. Controls to ahead flank…" and the ship slowed and then lunged forwards. "Now reading ahead flank"

"Weapons, in the name of those that died here and in the name of Sera, open fire"

#

"Wow!" David looked at the scanner information that showed the large Phaelon vessel stop its retreat, move forwards and then start to unleash its weapons. "Looks like they came to the party armed to the teeth"

"The Commander must have ordered the weapons unlocked" Tammy said. "The Escorts are moving in for the attack as well, and I think somebody has launched small fighters as well"

"Well so long as we can get to them and knock them out, that's all that counts" David said.

"David, Escorts are targeting the engines" Tammy was interpreting the information on the screen that had gone back to its default Phaelon. As they hurtled to their own doom, one of the red coloured systems suddenly turned green. "According to this, our weapon just came back on"

"How?"

"I do not know" Tammy replied in confusion. "I diverted all power to the engines, but according to this it is ready to fire"

"I don't think I can fire them from here" David said. "Can you fire them manually?"

"Yes" and Tammy hurried back over to the open panels and twisted various wires together and poked at others with strange tools that glowed, hummed or whistled. "There is power for one shot only" she announced. "One of the near misses must have knocked into place again"

"Well I am not going to argue" David said. "Fire in the hole!" and Tammy, though not understanding that phrase of her companion's, worked out it was an order to fire and so touched two wires together. All at once, there was a load of sparks as the shot caused nearly every system to fail at once. The solid beam made its way out and slammed into the rear of the pirate vessel and kept on going – finally stopping midway inside.

#

"Commander, the enemy vessel has been disabled"

"Blow them out of the stars" the Commander ordered. "No…! Wait a moment! Assemble what soldiers we have and have them go aboard and take control of that ship. I want to know why they decided to attack us here of all places and I want the surviving crew to stay surviving crew. Let the other ship go, but have the Escorts make ready a tow"

"Yes Commander"

"What about our friend?" he asked.

"Scanning… I am reading multiple hull breaches, shields and weapons are offline, engines are down and life support has failed. The engines have cracked and radiation is spreading throughout" another officer on the command ship of the small Phaelon fleet read her readings. "I am reading two life forms aboard – one appears to be Phaelon. I am unable to determine what species the other is. Both of them appear to be in need of urgent medical attention. Commander?"

"Yes, Officer?"

"The ship's pulse beacon appears to confirm this David Freeman's comment - that is Vessel 1918"

"My word…" the Commander breathed and looked out of the forward view port. "Medical and rescue teams to the hanger deck. Bring that ship in… Full radiation safety protocols. Navigation, slow ahead both engines. Close the distance between us and Vessel 1918" he looked as a gentle and warm coloured purple beam hit MAX and slowly arrested the tumble and pulled it carefully into the bay. "Sub Commander"

"Sir"

"Once repairs to the enemy vessel are completed, have our Escorts go aboard to augment the crewing. Once complete, set course for Phaelon – maximum speed. You have the deck"

"Yes, Commander. I have the deck"

**A/N:**

**Well I hope you enjoyed that a lot – I know that I did!**

**Hope to see lots of reviews for this as it was a pain to do on occasions.**

**Regards**

**Pixel and Stephanie**


	4. David Freeman – Lawyer At Large

**David Freeman – Lawyer At Large**

"Ungh…." David moaned and tried to sit up. As he did so, hands grabbed him and pushed him back down.

"Rest" said a voice. David opened his eyes to see a slightly concerned orange skinned being looking down at him. "Your injuries are only just healed, so please rest"

"You're a Phaelon"

"Of course" the alien inclined her head as Tammy often did.

"Where is Tammy?"

"I know no Tammy"

"The Phaelon that was with me"

"Ah… She has been healed of her injuries and is recovering nicely in jail"

"JAIL!" David sprang up. "Why?"

"She has broken our highest laws and must be punished"

"But it was not her fault" said David.

"If it was not her fault, then she would already be dead"

"Huh?"

"By not destroying the ship when she had the chance, she has allowed our technology to be shared. However, our Commander has decided that you were not entirely to blame, so will ask our leaders to simply take you home after contacting your planet's government"

"We don't have a single one for the planet" said David. "I'd like to see this Commander of yours"

"He is busy with important ship's business, but I will advise him of your request" the Doctor, David assumed it was some sort of Doctor or Nurse, said. "As we have no food that is suitable for you to eat, we have taken what we could find from your ship to quarters that we have prepared for you. If you will wait for a moment, I will summon a crewmember to take you to them"

"And if I don't wait?"

"Then you will not be going"

#

"Greetings" a tall and dark orange skinned Phaelon entered the room that had been set aside for David. "I am Commander Credaceiamso Xae; however, you may call me Commander"

"Hi" David said.

"I understand that you wish to speak to me"

"Yes… I want to see Tammy?"

"Tammy? Ah, the member of our people that was found with you? I am afraid that she is set to die upon our return to Phaelon. But, David Freeman, I believe I may be able to permit some visits every day for you. Between you and me, David Freeman, I do not hold to such out-dated rules now that we trade with other worlds. Sadly, though, I have my duty and must return your companion to Phaelon for trial and execution"

"I want to see her" David repeated.

"As you wish" the Commander said. "I can also arrange for a tour of the ship if you like. Given the fact you have seen the inside of this ship already, I do not suppose it will harm anything or anyone if you are guided around. There is something else I have to tell you… According to the sensor and scanner data collected by the vessel we found you in, you have travelled forward in time"

"_Forward_?"

"Yes. It is has been fifty six of our circles. Converting to your time scale and measurements, it has been twenty eight of your years"

"Holy cow…!" David was stunned. Everybody that he knew was either dead or now way older then he was.

"I realise this may be a shock to your system. Would you like to be alone?" asked the Commander.

"No… I'm fine" David looked around the room. "I would like to see my friend" he said at last.

#

"They seem to be taking care of you" Tammy said as she sat in her cell. The ship's jail was made of metal and a type of plastic and held little in the way of comforts. The front of her cell sported retractable metal bars which glowed and hummed – suggesting some sort of electricity running through them. Inside, there was a small cubicle that David assumed was a toilet of some sort and a single bunk with a mattress, pillow and blanket. Tammy was dressed in a bright green jumpsuit that seemed to serve as prison clothing, keeping nothing of her previous clothing but the short top and tiny shorts David had once seen Tammy wearing when working on the engines of MAX.

"I have to visit the hospital again when I leave here for another dose of medication, but I should be alright. The Commander has given me permission to visit you whenever I want to, so expect me to come when I can" David chuckled. "I like your new house… Very classy!"

"I rather like the decorations myself" agreed Tammy with a weak smile. "Has anybody said what is to happen to you after we reach Phaelon?"

"I did want to give evidence in your defence, but the outcome is going to be the same – death" David shrugged. "The Commander said they will most likely keep me around for a few days or weeks to examine me, make sure there are no lingering effects from the radiation and then wipe my mind and take me back to Earth"

"That's good news" said Tammy.

"Not really"

"Why?"

"Remember that little issue when we went towards the planet we stopped at to make repairs?" and Tammy nodded. "Well it seems as if we skipped forward in time by twenty eight years"

"_What_?" Tammy gasped. "How did we not know about this?"

"According to the logs the ship's crew have retrieved from MAX's data banks, it was because most of the sensors were offline from your taking him apart"

"I see. What about Ship? Is he damaged badly?"

"The Commander had the damage report from his crew translated into English for me… MAX is almost dead. The computer systems are barely working, engines are down, shields and weapons are offline and life support couldn't give enough air to a midget. Add to that the amount of hull and fire damage; it's a surprise we survived between that and the radiation. They are making some repairs in order to restart the Self Repair thingies, but that will not work right until we get to your world"

"I wish I could show you around, but I somehow do not think that I will be getting out anytime soon" Tammy waved casually at the cell walls. "Did the Commander say when my trial will begin?"

"The day after we arrive" David said. "And he said that your execution would take place the following day"

"That is perfectly logical and acceptable" said Tammy. "The trial is only given because of the law"

"Well the Commander said he will speak up for you. He said that you gave up your freedom to alert them to the pirates and attempted to take one out yourself. And, of course, it goes without saying that _I_ will speak for you at your trial"

"Thank you, David" Tammy said warmly, "But I do not think it will be of any use. Did the Commander say when we would arrive at Phaelon?"

"About five or twenty days" David said. "There is a bit of a translation issue with time measurements. Whatever it is, I am reading as much about your law as possible. I am going to argue that since MAX kidnapped you and implanted the evidence into your planet's computers, you should not be executed"

"I thank you for your consideration, David, but it will not change anything. In the eyes of my planet and its leaders, I am a convicted criminal already - the trial is just a technicality required by law"

"Perhaps, Tammy, but over these last few weeks, I have come to think of you as a friend. I don't know what it is like on Phaelon, but on Earth we do not leave our friends in trouble. If you're going to be damned, let's be damned for whom you really are. I will stand by your side and show your people what Earthlings are made of" and Tammy unexpectedly hugged him. It was the first physical contact of this kind he had had with her. Any other time had been whilst doing repairs and upgrades on MAX, and he wondered if it was a cultural thing. Then again, maybe it was the result of getting to know and trust one another "You could be seen as an accessory to my supposed crimes"

"True, but they have only encountered one person from Earth, and that person is me. They have no real idea of how I can react I am going to employ a Batman Gambit"

"I am not familiar with that term"

"If your trial is anything like ours, you will have lawyers, right?"

"We have Archons, but I believe that they are one and the same thing" Tammy said.

"Then I will stand with you as your lawyer" said David. "My first argument will be to ask for a break so that I may examine the evidence presented against you. Even if not days, then at least I can gain you a few hours" and he hesitated.

"Is something the matter?" asked Tammy.

"Apart from one of my friends being in jail...? You don't deserve the way you are being treated"

"No, but if I am treated in any other way, our society is doomed to collapse"

"I'm going to speak to this Commander person. I just thought of a loophole..." he looked at the guard. "I want to speak to the commander"

"He is busy on business to do with the ship" the guard said after he called somewhere. "The Sub-Commander does not want to disturb him"

"Then inform your Sub-Commander that the Navigator of Vessel 1918 wishes to speak to him at once" the Guard's eyes widened and he hurriedly spoke to the intercom. "The Sub-Commander apologises, Navigator – he did not realise it was you asking. The Commander is on his way"

"Good" and David turned back to tammy. "I remembered how you told me Navigators were held in a special place by your people" and they waited until the Commandeer arrived.

"You wish to speak to me, David Freeman?"

"Yes" avid replied. "I have read some of your laws whilst on MAX, and I wish to protest how Tammy is being treated. As she has not been found guilty of any crimes, yet, the most that you can do is to confine her to the care of her Archon"

"Her Archon has not been appointed"

"The have – _me_" David said with a grin.

"You are not a Phaelon... It can not be"

"You may think so, but your rules say that anybody of sufficient knowledge may serve as an Archon. As it happens, I am a Master Debater on Earth"

"Master Debater?"

"A person who argues in cases of right and wrong or in cases of dispute" David said. "And, Commander, the law does not make mention of me having to be a member of your race"

"Hmm... I shall have to consult with my senior officers on this matter, but I will allow you to have your companion placed into your care" and he turned and gave orders to the guard.

"Thank you, David" Tammy said as she was released from the cell.

"You will be responsible for her conduct on the ship and towards its crew" said the commander.

"Right... Tammy, do you promise to be good and not blow us up?"

"Yes"

"Right…! Well, that is good enough for me" David said. "Let's get back to the rooms I have and see what we can do to help you get a dismissal"

"Compliance, Navigator"

#

"… and this is the Bridge" the Commander said. "Helm is at the front console and navigation, operations, fighter control, weapons, engineering and sciences are either along the side walls or behind us in the Navigation Room" and David looked to see rows and rows of consoles built up like an ancient Roman stadium with a map of the local star system on a large transparent screen. Two large blobs moved quickly over it and David assumed that was the Command Ship of the Phaelons and the captured pirate vessel.

"It's very busy" said the teen.

"The day shift is the busier. On a night, we run with a reduced crew" the Commander said. "My crew have orders to explain anything that you wish to know about"

"What about not sharing technology?" asked David.

"You are already on the ship, there is no point in arguing that law. After this, and after your check in the medical bay, my Chief Engineer will take you round the engine room. Then, the rest of the time is yours to do with as you please"

"Thank you" said David. "But after this tour, all I shall require is access to your computer memory and data banks. I have a trial to prepare for"

"As you wish" the Commander said. "Yes?" the last comment was aimed at a Phaelon that came hurriedly up to him.

"Commander, we have received a Priority Code One message from Naval High Command"

"What does it say?"

"Naval High Command has directed us to execute the traitor and confine the Earthling to quarters until his people come to get him"

"Are you sure…?"

"Yes, Commander. The authentication codes are valid"

"But how did they know that the prisoner from Vessel 1918 was alive? I ordered a communications black out on that"

"I don't know, Sir"

"Anybody wanting to kill Tammy has to get through me. She has done nothing wrong to you or your people… It was all Max's fault. Besides, Earth doesn't have ships capable of getting to Phaelon in a million years" David said.

"According to this message, they will arrive in seventy periods" the Commander said, but the translator changed "seventy periods" into "thirty five hours". David was not sure if the translator was converting that correctly or just picking the closest words that fit.

"Well I guess they figured out warp drive or something" he muttered. "I don't suppose you can fix Max and let us go?"

"If I could, then I would gladly do so. However, if I was to do that then my crew would suffer for my disobedience. Saying that… Communications, are you sure that the codes were valid?"

"Yes, Commander"

"We suffered some damage to our systems, for all we know it could have been an order for us to go to sleep"

"I'll start checking the systems" replied the officer and walked away.

"Somebody is going to great lengths to prevent your companion from reaching Phaelon. Our laws dictate that everyone gets a trial, even if that is just a formality. However, given this fact, I must ask you to keep your companion confined to your quarters for the rest of the voyage"

"What about food?"

"I will have a menu sent to her and she will pick what foods she wants"

"Right, well I'll skip the tour and start preparing our case"

"Good luck, David Freeman"

"Thanks" and David was escorted back to the quarters he had been given.

#

Phaelon was just as Tammy had described it to him, with a number of orbital platforms, shipyards, drydocks and space stations arranged around the planet. The Commander had allowed David to view the approach from the Bridge and watch the crew do their docking procedures. As soon as the seals were in place, what appeared to be a group akin to Stormtroopers came aboard and took Tammy under close arrest and dragged her down to the planet below. To his credit, the Commander was not best pleased and found multiple ways to delay their passage – enough to ready a shuttle for David to use to get to the surface of Phaelon. After being given some quarters in which David changed into some smart looking clothing, thinking the Phaelons might be impressed slightly if he appeared smart, he was led into a room that held a single long bench table with some small chairs in the front and huge high-backed thrones which held regal looking Phaelons. Each wore incredibly intricate clothing and the teen had to assume that they were at least _some_ of the rulers of Phaelon.

"You are the Earthling?" asked the one I the middle – slightly older looking with wrinkles in its orange skin.

"My name is David Freeman - I come in peace" David gave a slight nod to them.

"The Commander of the vessel that brought you here has told us of your desire to stand as Archon to the traitor. However, this we cannot allow"

"Why?"

"Only a Phaelon can defend another Phaelon"

"But, when you declared her a traitor you stripped her of her citizenship. Besides, what is the harm in defending somebody when the sentence has already been determined?"

"That is not the point, Earthling. You know nothing of our people, our history or our laws…"

"I know Tammy – she is my friend. Maybe you are right about not knowing much about your people, laws and history, but where _I _come from, friends stick together. On the way here, I was able to red some of your books. One of them said that anybody may be an Archon to a defendant, but it made no mention of having to be another Phaelon"

"It has never come up before, but the rule of which he speaks is quite correct" another of the Phaelons spoke up. "From what the Commander of the vessel that brought him here has said to us, this Earthling appears to be of good character and was very concerned for the wellbeing of his companion"

"But what does he have when we all know what the sentence will be for sharing our technology. One could argue the fact that she has shared it with this Earthling" the first one spoke.

"May I remind the Councilwoman that the Earthling knew nothing of our laws when he boarded Vessel 1918? Indeed, we are guilty ourselves for this is, according to him, the same Earthling that we captured as a specimen fifty six circles ago?" the second one spoke reprovingly. The translator that David carried seemed to have an issue converting whatever a circle was in measurements used on Earth – as it had worked with other Phaelons, he assumed it was either a dialect issue or an older version of the language like the Vulcans from Star Trek used. Or, perhaps, Old High Gallifreyan from Doctor Who.

"If we all know what the sentence is to be, then what is to be lost by letting this Earthling be the Archon?" asked a third.

"Very well…" the first one, the woman, spoke, "You may serve as the Archon. But, Earthling, be warned that we will not grant you any special conditions except access to all the charges levied and to any records that we have. You will have one afternoon to prove the innocence of the traitor as execution is scheduled to be tomorrow three minutes after the trial ends"

"I thank you for your time" said David, standing from his chair.

"May the light of truth light up your path" said the third Phaelon.

"And up yours as well" David said straight-faced, then turned to walk and be escorted to the cell where Tammy was being kept. "David to Max"

"_Vessel 1918 standing by_" MAX said in his old purely robotic like voice. The auto repair systems, once having been kicked in, had repaired computer control to the memory and data banks. It was, David and Tammy thought, better than nothing.

"Status of repairs?"

"_Repairs will take forty seven of your days to complete, Navigator_"

"That's a lot" said Tammy.

"Max, I want you to transfer all the logs and records you made when you left Phaelon with Tammy and set course to Earth to the console in cell seven seven delta – that is an order from your Navigator"

"_Compliance_" and then the line went dead.

"What are you hoping for?"

"I am hoping that I can provide Max's own records that show you were kidnapped and didn't have the tools to blow the ship up" David replied.

"A brave try, but you know what will happen"

"How will they… you know…"

"Kill me? Well there are several options to choose from. If I was tried on a ship or station, they could simply blast me into space out of an airlock. However, since I have been brought back to the site of where my crime has taken place they will either shoot me, inject me with a lethal poison that eats my skins, muscles, bones and organs, place me into a gas chamber or hang me. If my crime is judged to be serious enough, they may even take me apart"

"Apart?"

"I am tied with ropes to four poles which are moved more and more apart. Eventually, I am torn into pieces" Tammy sighed.

"You seem not to be too bothered about it" David remarked.

"I am a Phaelon. It is not my place to question my leaders. If they say I am to be killed, then that is the decision I must abide by. Phaelon law allows for no appeals of the death sentence after it has been given"

"Well screw that" said David. "I am going to try and save you. I managed to sneak one of the guns we picked up on the repair station planet down here with me. If they order any death other than hanging or shot, then I'll kill you myself. Even if I cannot stop you from dying, Tammy, I can at least as a friend stop you from suffering"

"Thank you, David" Tammy replied. "Of course" he added, "That's Plan B. I'm guessing that you used to have access to the computers here?"

"Yes"

"Would your people have blocked your codes after Max took you?"

"Perhaps" said Tammy. "Why do you ask such a question?"

"Because I'm thinking we can get inside the security systems and take over the computers here. Once we've done that, surely we can send them false orders and then maybe lock their ships into dock and orbit whilst we make an escape out of here"

"But your people are coming to get you" Tammy said, "Surely you wish to go with them, yes?"

"The last time we met was two months ago… twenty eight years ago to them – it wasn't a pleasant meeting"

"Maybe things have changed"

"Perhaps" David replied, "But I might just get out of here with you, and Max if possible, and settle on some sort of planet that's out of the way and live out my life there with you"

"I would like that very much, David" Tammy replied.

"Mind if I ask you something that might be personal or offensive?"

"No"

"What is it with you and the hugging? I like it a lot, but you seemed so angry when we first got to know each other"

"At first I was still angry at the thought of never seeing my family or friends again, but, as time went on, I came to think of you as a friend as good as any other that I had. Even with the fact you did not know any space knowledge, you took each challenge as it came to you" Tammy sat on her little cell's bed. "Although we are not of the same species, Max said that we would at least be compatible if we sought companionship"

"You mean… _Sex_?" David blushed heavily.

"I assume you do it as my people do?"

"Well I don't know how you do it" David said, "And I doubt I can go and ask somebody about it" he added with a slight laugh.

"As I and Ship have said, to Phaelons, family and friends are very important to us ever since the war. Now, I have to accept the fact that some of the family of mine are dead, those that remain and my friends will think terrible of me for the crime I am accused of. My only hope is to try and escape with you and either go to Earth or deep space"

"How about we cross that bridge when we get to it?" David reached through and gave Tammy's hands a squeeze. She started as if shocked, but quickly relaxed once more and gently squeezed back. In that moment, David knew it was something akin to a cultural taboo on her part. She was trying very hard to get rid of some of her ingrained aloofness – the confiding of the war was one thing. Her ending of some sentences with 'Compliance, Navigator' was more, he suspected, of an attempt of a joke. She'd also understood David's issues with privacy and his non understanding of the lack of it in Phaelon culture which she had tried to deal with.

"What is your plan, David?"

"They are expecting me to win the case against you, but I have a better idea"

"What?"

"They are betting that I am trying to win, but I am going to play for a draw. I am going to pull every single trick in your law to gain us time"

"Time, David?"

"Because I am Max's Navigator, they needed me to put the automatic repairs systems into operation. So, he is working as fast as he can to get repaired, but make the damage still appear – albeit cosmetically. The Commander said that they are going to strip his memory and then command him to fly into the sun"

"I would regret that" Tammy said.

"So would Max" said David dryly. "I'm thinking that if we can cause a disturbance big enough, we could sneak out under the cloaking device and get away"

"There may be another way" Tammy frowned in thought. "On the way to being placed in this cell, I briefly overheard several people talking about the first flight of a new Battlecruiser. If Ship can, once repaired enough, gain access to the main computer system of my people, it should be possible to break the ship loose and then we use it to get away"

"But what about Max?" asked David. "We have to take him with us"

"The timing is complex as we would have to reach a shuttle of some sort, reach orbit, dock with the yard and then get onboard Ship to barge out. However, Ship will not have enough power for us to escape, so we will take the Battlecruiser with us"

"Can we control a ship between us?"

"No, but if Ship can get aboard, it will be able to interface with the onboard systems and take command. All we have to do is man the weapons stations"

"Weapons?"

"Yes, you do not think they will not come after us? Once we have cleared the system, we can engage the cloak and make good our escape. When we're far enough away, we can take manual control of the ship and then allow Ship to start repairs – assisted by the robotic mechanics of course"

"And then what do we do?"

"We shall have to come to that bridge when we cross it" Tammy smiled. "Now, you had best leave before anybody suspects anything going on between us apart from Archon to defendant talking"

"Will you be alright?"

"I am sitting in a locked cell, deprived of freedom and of friendship and family… No, Navigator, I am _not_ alright" and David gave Tammy's hands another squeeze.

"A Battlecruiser? You could have some serious fun with a Battlecruiser…" and a smile flittered over the otherwise sad Tammy.

#

"Sir, we're on approach to the planet"

"Very good. XO, bring us to Condition 2 and take us into the Phaelon system. Broadcast our ID and intent to the planet and inform them we are armed, but we are running with weapons powered down"

"Aye, Sir"

"Dr Jones? Dr Jones? Calling Doctor Jones… We're approaching the Phaelon system… Normal… Right" the man changed channels. "Hanger Deck… Arrange a shuttle for the Doctor, myself and Ship's Medical Officer"

"_Aye, Captain_"

"We're on course for Phaelon – arrival in seven hours and fifteen minutes" the XO reported.

"Good… Scanners?"

"Sir?"

"When we get into orbit, I want you to start banging away with every scanner and sensor we have"

"We'll be ready, Captain"

#

"We are here to place on trial the traitor, Tamilikansqueseverkin-toola Kurch. Her crimes include theft, sabotage, assault and, the most serious of all, the sharing of technology with non Phaelons" the stern council woman that David had spoken to before looked at him. "How does the Archon move?"

"I move that my client is not guilty of the crimes placed before her, Councillor Sasal"

"I rather thought you would say that" the Phaelon said. "Very well… Do you have any evidence that proves your movement of Not Guilty?"

"I do"

"I see. Then you may present your evidence, Archon"

"Thank you" David bowed his head slightly. "If you would please watch the viewer…?" and he pressed a button that lowered the lights in the room and turned on the screen. A video of what appeared to be a small spaceship repair shop was shown – Max sitting with the hatch open. "As you can see, my client is seen going back and forth the inside of the ship carrying tools and equipment to perform her job. As you know, she was ordered to examine the mainframe of Trimaxion Drone Ship Vessel 1918, also known as Max, In order to determine how it had scanned my brainwaves in defiance of its automatic safeguards" he paused as the video showed Tammy working at a console. She worked at it for several seconds before going back inside MAX – the recording device at an angle that just about showed Tammy being thrown forwards as the ship blasted out of the hanger and out of the camera's recording angle. A press of a switch, and the screen darkened and the lights came up once more. "As you can see, my client only just stepped onboard Vessel 1918 when it set off on its escape. Computer records provided to me also show that my client did at no point use any system that was outside her range of authorisation. The fact that she was taken without her consent is a matter of record as indicated by both her statements and mine. In addition, you have already read the automatic logs made by Vessel 1918 which confirm our stories. I am reliably informed that these logs cannot be falsified without indicating so on the recording crystals" David sipped the water in the glass before him. "I call my first witness" and the Commander of the ship that had brought them aboard for medical treatment entered the room and took a seat on a raised platform to one side. "You are the Commander of the ship that took Vessel 1918 aboard?"

"I am"

"Commander, can you tell me a short piece of background of what happened?"

"Certainly. On course to perform the yearly ceremony, we received a message informing us that three large ships were on the way to intercept and attack us. After checking the message details, we determined that it came from yourself and the accused"

"You have been in space for a long time, correct?"

"Yes"

"Then, in your opinion, is it very common to be warned by a supposed traitor of an attack on your small fleet?"

"Not normally, no, Archon"

"Is it common for a supposed traitor to risk their own freedom to give you time to react?"

"No, Archon, it is not"

"After the accused was brought aboard and given treatment, she was taken to your onboard jail. May I ask if she gave you any trouble at all?"

"Only when she came round from the medication from her operation, but that is perfectly common in all species"

"After that, was there any trouble?"

"None… If anything, Archon, she seemed somewhat happy that she had done what she had set out to do. She gave me her oath that she would not harm the ship or its crew, so I released her to quarters with you"

"You received an order to execute the accused on the voyage here"

"I did"

"Why did you not carry it out?"

"She had just helped to save my life, my crew, my ship and those of the fleet under my command. I will, without a doubt, face punishment for that, but I will not execute somebody that saved me. Duty, Archon, will only compel me to do so much"

"One last question, Commander. Do you believe that Tamilikansqueseverkin-toola Kurch is a traitor to your people?"

"No, Archon, I do not. A traitor would not normally go to the rescue of those people wishing to imprison or execute her. I spoke to her several times on the trip back to Phaelon, Archon, and it is my opinion that she is no traitor"

"Thank you. I may call on you later"

"As you wish, Archon" and the Commander rose from his place, bowed to the councillors and then left the room.

"I call my second witness" and a distinguished looking Phaelon entered the room. His hair, little that there was, was a whiteish grey with wrinkles all over his orange skin and David watched him as he sat where the Commander had just been. "You are a Senior Computer Professor, correct?"

"Yes, I am"

"Can you tell me how long you have been in the field of computers?"

"Seven decades"

"So it is safe to say that you have seen much in your career? That you are an expert in your chosen field?"

"Yes, Archon"

"Good. Can you please tell us all what you did when you were given the job of examining the records of Vessel 1918 after it had been recovered?"

"Certainly… I started by looking at the ship's data recorders which, as I am sure most are aware, are armoured to ensure survival in the event of serious damage or destruction of said ship"

"And this is to ensure that data is kept?"

"Indeed… We use it to work out what went wrong and what we can do to solve the problem if one exists"

"And you could tell if data crystals have been altered to give misleading information?"

"There are minute changes in the way it records. If there is a slightest difference outside the normal variations, it would make the whole crystal suspicious"

"I see" David looked at Tammy, then the Council and then the professor again. "Did you find anything from the data and memory banks that indicated they had been tampered with?" he asked.

"No, Archon. I have checked the signature of the crystals against the records we hold for Vessel 1918 and they indicate they are the ones assigned to it before it set off on this whole… adventure"

"Thank you, Professor" said David. "Do they indicate any tampering with the records at all?"

"None"

"Thank you… If you would all look at this image…?" David pressed a button and a video, showing David and Tammy talking about her home world, appeared on the screen as the lights dimmed once more. "Can you describe how you checked that this was an actual recording and not a fake or doctored copy?"

"Assuming that the time codes had been overridden, there would be subtle differences in the images or video that had been altered"

"Tell us, please"

"Small things such as lighting levels, shadow placement, power supply activity, position of persons and objects in frame of camera – many things"

"And it is your expert testimony that none of these images are falsified?"

"It is"

"Do you believe the accused to be a traitor to her people?"

"No, Archon, I do not think that. Given my background in computer sciences, I believe there was a feedback in the scanning circuits when the Navigator Interface scanned your brain for the star charts needed to get back to Phaelon. From what few reports the accused made before this whole mishap, I believe the operating system became half alive"

"How do you mean?" asked David. This would be useful to know when dealing with MAX later, he thought to himself.

"It took on an organic brain like structure. I can only assume this gave it a fear emotion and had it return to the only place it could hide"

"Earth"

"Indeed, Archon. From the moment that the ship's computer system made its mind up, for lack of a better turn, it kidnapped the accused – covering the event in false orders and paperwork that made it look as if it had been stolen by the accused. I would argue her to be one of the most sensible people in this room. She failed to prevent the ship from escaping, but data records indicate some attempts to disable the ship even so"

"Thank you, Professor. I may call on you later"

"I live to serve, Archon" and he left the room.

"I call on my third witness" David pressed a few buttons and the screen changed to that of swirling colours and patterns. He was pulling his trump card here… "You are Vessel 1918's computer, known by some as Max?"

"_Affirmative_"

"Please describe to the court what happened that caused the Accused to be on trial"

"_Compliance_. _After setting off back to Phaelon, after delivering the remaining samples to their planets, Vessel 1918 returned and was examined as is the normal standard for Trimaxion class Drone Ships. However, they discovered that Vessel 1918 had taken on several patterns akin to Human emotions_"

"And you took exception to something that you thought of as murdering you"

"_Affirmative_"

"And now… What do you think of the Accused? Do you think she would betray her own people?"

"_No, Navigator. Indeed, during the battle, she was the one that argued she would rather risk her own life and freedom to warn the cabinet and priests of Phaelon. I attempted to persuade otherwise, but she convinced you to bring me into the fight_"

"One last question" David said. "Would you risk your freedom and existence to save the Accused?" and there was a long pause – so much so that David checked the link twice.

"_Affirmative_"

"Thank you…" David smiled at something. The Councillors looked somewhat disturbed by the amount of evidence that appeared to show Tammy in a good light, and by expert testimony of several people and even the ship that had kidnapped her in the first place. David finished his case for Tammy's freedom by stating her otherwise spotless record, statements by her superiors as to her good conduct, achievements in her chosen field of science and emphasising the fact that it was Tammy herself that had begged David to put MAX about and enter the fight after sending a warning.

"Is that all?" asked one of them.

"Yes" David stood and bowed. "I thank you for your time and hope you will agree with my view point and free the Accused" and more would have been said but some alarms went off and a Phaelon entered the room and spoke quickly to the Councillors.

"It would seem, David Freeman" Sasal, the unkind Councillor, said, "That your kind have come to take you away and back to your home"

**A/N:**

**Well I hope you enjoyed that a lot – I know that I did!**

**Hope to see lots of reviews for this as it was a pain to do on occasions. Going to do the other fics which I have left hanging whilst doing this... Why not check them out?**

**Regards**

**Pixel and Stephanie**


	5. Shall I Leave or Shall We Leave?

**Shall I Leave or Shall We Leave? **

"I'm nervous" David muttered to himself. He stood with a couple of the Phaelons as a shuttle came down from the orbiting ships from Earth. Although it was only a month or so for him, it was decades for everyone else, so he wondered what they would do with him once he was on their ships. Clearly they had either got their hands on information that was in his mind or had obtained it from other alien crashes. He could see that at least one of them, although identical to the other two was not American. This was due to the fact that it had a small dome like protrusion on the front with a stick object poking out of the front – the four point five and the name appeared to make it British.

"Stand guard!" called a voice. The Commander of the ship that had taken David, MAX and Tammy aboard was dressed in a deep blood red tunic like a few of the other Phaelons – making David think they were Phaelon navy. The shuttle made a pass over the crowd, spun round and landed on little struts that popped out the bottom of the craft. Its name, _Mork_, was in a scrolling red script under the cockpit window. For a few moments, there was no sound or movement from either side but then a hatch unfolded outwards and turned itself into a ramp to allow entry and exit. Two soldiers came out then stood to one side as a group of suited people came out and stared at the people watching them.

"We are from the planet Earth… We come in peace"

"First time I see people from my planet in twenty six years and I get a geek fan club" David shook his head.

"David? Is that you…?" a balding middle aged and overweight man stepped out of the grouping of humans and approached him.

"Depends"

"I would have thought you would know me, butt face" the man said. "It's me, Jeff"

#

Whilst the rest of the party talked to the leading Phaelons, Jeff took the chance to speak to David away from the others,

"Been years since I last saw you" said Jeff. "We never knew what happened to you… There was no note, no phone call, no email"

"Whats email?"

"Oh yeah… You wouldn't know" Jeff snorted. "You know, a lot of things have happened since we last saw you, some mad bastard flew planes into the World Trade Centre, we went to war to find weapons that did not exist and we even elected a black man to be President"

"Oh" David said. "For me it's only been a few months… How did you even build those ships?" he asked.

"NASA came to look at everything that was left in your room after you vanished. They found some computer printouts and notes you never took with you. They got in touch with some brainy aerospace types to start building them, but asked the British to help because they really know how to build stuff" Jeff said, leaning on the wall of the large meeting room they were in. "They recruited me straight out of school to work for them"

"What in?" David asked.

"Structural engineering and aerospace stuff mainly" Jeff said. "We've been travelling for days at top speed just to get here"

"How did you know?"

"We picked up Phaelon communications" Jeff glanced at the group round the table. "We've got a few secret programs now – we're in space in a _big_ way. One of our mining ships heard some chatter that we figured was about you, so we came out with the only three ships we have to come out here and bring you home"

"Yeah? Well I'm kinda busy" David replied.

"Busy? I would have thought you want to have come home" Jeff looked at his brother in confusion. "Besides, you are coming back with us"

"No, I'm not"

"Yes, David… You are" Jeff said sharply. "We need the information that's in your head. If we can't get you back to Earth, then we'll simply take your head anyway" and hands grabbed him and bundled him out of the doors as he felt something go in his arm and then there was nothing but darkness.

# # # # #

"Where is the Human?" asked the Chancellor.

"He expressed a desire to visit our ships, so our shuttle returned to our ship. I can have it come back if you want" said one of the NASA people.

"No… No, it is of no importance. However, ensure that he returns one hour before Sunrise tomorrow"

"Why?"

"Because we holding a trial and he is an important person in it" and the discussion returned to what it was before.

# # # # #

"Where am I?" demanded David as he came round from the sedative.

"You are aboard the USS _Robin Williams_"

"The what?"

"We've come to take you home – by force if needed. We were sent as part of a task force to recover you and the information in your mind. However, like your brother said, we only require the information in your mind. It does not need to be attached to your mind" somebody wearing an Admiral's uniform said. "The Phaelons are a warlike and evil empire which we must strike against before they hit us hard"

"I'm not giving you that information" David ripped off the straps that held him down. "Yeah, they're warlike, but they are also a people with lots of niceness"

"We're wasting time, Admiral" said Jeff, "We must begin the procedure now"

"Very well, Mr Freeman" the Admiral nodded and two guards moved forward to hold David down to the table. "You may begin, but be sure to block what has happened here before we return him to the Phaelons"

"Of course, Admiral – they will never know we have their technology"

"You fucking traitor" David spat in his brother's face.

"I'm ensuring we live…"

#

An hour later, David was sitting in what appeared to be the ship's brig trying to open the door. From what he could tell, it seemed to be locked electronically. The few access panels he had opened had proven to be of no use to his escape as they contained solid piping and charged wiring. Deciding that there was nothing for it, he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the small laser pistol that had seemingly not been discovered during the brain scanning that his own brother had done on him along with the other scientists. Somehow, he had to get out the cell and hide in a shuttle before it went down to get the scientists and other government types. He would rather take his chances with the Phaelons then go back to his own kind and be treated like a guinea pig again. Remembering his lessons from Tammy, he turned down the power setting on the gun and aimed at the cover to the air vent. Pressing the trigger gently, the gun emitted a long beam that dissolved the slats into molten metal that ran down the wall. David picked up the blanket from the single bunk and threw it over the bottom of the vent and let it go down the wall – allowing him to climb up and not injure himself doing so. Once in the vent, he logically headed in a downwards direction until he came out in a deserted part of the hanger deck – looking at the shuttle that seemed to be the one picked to go down. A careful glance told him it was identical to the one that had brought him up, except somebody had named this one _Mindy_. Satisfying himself that the coast was clear, he raced over, got in and hid in what looked to be a locker full of suits. Getting an idea, he quickly put one on and put the visor down so that nobody would notice him if they opened the door for one reason or another.

#

Tammy sat in her cell on the single bunk under the bright and uncovered light. A guard had come a while before and handed her a simple black robe and forced her at gunpoint to wear it. Although the result of her trial had not been announced yet, the young Phaelon knew that only the prisoners wearing black robes were executed. She wondered where David was and if he would be allowed to say goodbye to her before sentence was carried out. As she sat on her bunk and waited for something to happen, she closed her eyes and went back to memories from days past. Despite the whole cause of her situation, she was glad that it had gained her a friend in David. She'd been cold towards him, trying to use the whole mysticism of her race as a defence against the abuse she had suffered as a child from her Uncle. Apart from the beatings from time to time, she was touched in places that only one's husband or wife should touch another. Because of the inherent lack of privacy on her planet, her Uncle could enter her room at his will, and one night he went to the ultimate step – keeping on for several months until she won a scholarship to the Ruov Science Academy at the age of six Circles. Through shame at the thought of what had happened, she never spoke of it and threw herself into her work and tried to get as much importance so that her Uncle, a leading member of the Phaelon Army, could never touch her without raising suspicion. Over the weeks and months spent with David aboard the MAX, she had slowly learned to lower her inhibitions and opened up and spoke to David from time to time about Phaelon, though never about what had happened – though she thought of him as a person likely not to judge her for her shame and sin. She had felt so safe that she had allowed him to touch her from time to time, though careful to make it appear nothing more than glancing touches from handing tools and supplies over. Despite this, she had asked MAX to see if she and David would be compatible for intimacy even if nothing would come of it. When the subject of intimacy and her relaxation of her touching him came up, she realised her reluctance and shame was embarrassment to which she made no corrections. As she went over the happy times with David, she heard the door open and a man walk in. Opening her eyes, she gasped in shock and horror at the person before her…

"It has been a long time since I last saw you, Tamilikansqueseverkin-toola" said her Uncle, leering at her with an almost predatory glance, "How about you welcome me?" and the door closed.

And Tammy screamed

#

Once landed, the pilot exited the craft and headed away which allowed David to get out the suit, pile as much food and liquid there was into a bag that he pilfered from a storage locker near to hand. After tucking the gun into his pocket in such a way for an easy draw, he exited the shuttle and dropped down into the landing bay before quickly running into the complex. He slowed his pace as he tried to seem casual as other Phaelons nodded at least in acknowledgement – they had seen him several times on the way to and from Tammy's cell before her 'trial'. Stopping briefly at the checkpoint at the front of the detention block, he walked by himself to where Tammy was located. Just as he was turning the corner, he heard the sound of a Phaelon screaming

"TAMMY!" he cried, dropping the bag where he was and running down the corridor. When he got to the door, it was locked so he simply backed up and shouldered it down to reveal a horrible sight. A large Phaelon was on top of Tammy with his tunic bottom by his feet, Tammy's prison clothing torn to shreds and he was sickened by the fact that his friend was being raped in front of his very eyes. Rage tore at him as he stalked over, grabbed the heavier being pulled him off Tammy, slammed him against the wall and pulled the pistol out of his pocket in one solid flow of movement. Bringing it upwards, David slammed the muzzle inside the Phaelon's ear, thumbed off the safety and pulled the trigger – sending killer bolts through the ear, in and out the brain and though the skull. A cry from whoever it was was cut off as soon as it started before the body dropped to the floor – leaving a trail of blood, skull fragments and brains as it slid down. Taking aim, David pointed the pistol down and fired twice more before thumbing the safety on and turning to his friend's needs. Seeing a male coming towards her, Tammy backed up against the cell wall and started speaking in words his translator was not converting to English. He approached her as gently as he could before he grabbed the blanket, covered her nakedness and then staggered backwards as she launched herself into his body and held him tight as she sobbed into his chest.

"Uncle… Touch… No… Hurt badly… Many… Before…" a few of the words that Tammy stammered out managed to get close enough to English for the translator to work. He made his decision to leave the planet, the Earth ships in orbit and to run away and never look back – taking Tammy with him.

"Tammy? Its David" he brushed the hair gently out of her face, trying hard not to start crying as she gasped and pulled away from him. Wiping the tears from her eyes, he bent down and sat on the bunk to look at her. "Do you know who I am?" he asked. The Phaelon looked at him through tear filled and stained eyes with a slightly detached and puzzled look before nodding and wrapping her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tight.

"David…!" then realised her state of undress and the cause of it. "I could not help it. He forced himself on me. I was too weak. I know you are ashamed of me. I am not worthy of being your friend"

"There is nothing that you did that makes me no longer your friend. That worthless piece of shit there is to blame, but you don't have to worry about him any more… He's been taken care of. Look, we've got to get out of here and off planet" David said, stroking the back of her head soothingly. "If we can get to a shuttle or something, do you think you could get us to the Battlecruiser?"

"Yes, I… I think so" Tammy said uncertainly.

"We're going to have to move quickly, Tammy" he pulled her to her feet and spotted some dark black robes which he handed to her.

"These are robes worn by those to be killed" she said.

"They'll have to do for now" David said. "Look, put those on and you can change into a uniform or something when we get aboard" and he left the cell with the body of the Phaelon and went to the place he left the bag before returning. As he did so, he removed his communicator and called a channel very low in the bands. "David to Max. David to Max. Come in, Max"

"_Vessel 1918 reporting_"

"Our plans have been sped up. Can you get into the Battlecruiser's computer?"

"_Affirmative_"

"Then in eleven minutes, start an overload of the reactor system and block any effort to restore it to working. Then make it so that an evacuation is ordered and a special crew ordered to take care of it. Me and Tammy are taking a ship to pretend to be that crew. Plot a course to get us the hell away from Phaelon at top speed in the first heading after you've cleared the dock. The instant we're in the bay, you'll close the doors and follow that order – understood?"

"_Compliance, Navigator. I will be ready_"

"Good, David out"

"I am ready" Tammy said as she stepped out of the cell dressed in the black robes.

"Tammy, we may have to fight our way out of this building and to a ship. I need to know if you will fire on your own people"

"You saved my life, David. I will do whatever it is to protect you" Tammy bent down and searched the corpse for items – finding a pistol, two recharge packs, credit slips and other things like computer chips. Once upright, she kicked the cooling corpse and spat on it with venom before looking at a concerned David. "Navigator, we must depart hostile environment"

"Compliance" David said, and he gained a small smile from Tammy before the pair charged down the corridor and to the lift.

"_Kŭde iskate da otidete_?" a voice said as they entered a lift.

"Zakachalka zalivi - nivo dvanadeset" Tammy replied.

"_Spazvane_" and the lift moved away.

"Do you think that we can get away with this?" asked David.

"As you humans might say, David, 'We will or die trying'"

"I'd rather avoid the dying part"

"As would I" Tammy checked the weapon she held in her hand. "I want to thank you again for coming to save me, David"

"Well I was on my way to see you anyway" he replied. "My people wanted the information in my head, but I refused to give it to them so they might have taken it by force. I managed to escape, get down here and was going to try and bust you out and get a ship. Then I found out that Max was going to be used as target practice for your new ship, so" he shrugged, "I thought about using him to take it over"

"We will never be able to return home" said Tammy.

"Does that bother you?"

"If you had asked me this before, I would have said yes, but now it does not bother me at all" Tammy thumbed the catch off her weapon and got ready as the lift slowed and opened. Slowly and carefully, they made their way to a lone ship which held two Phaelons. Taking a pipe in his hands, David swung it with all his strength and knocked them both out. After dragging them to the supply area and disabling the door lock, the pair re-boarded the shuttle and David ran what checks he could on it whilst Tammy changed into a uniform that she found.

"David to Max"

"_I am here, David_"

"Make her sing"

"_Compliance_" and Max was as good as his word. A call was sent to them asking for assistance saying that there was a reactor overload and that the crew were abandoning ship and Tammy soon had them flying into orbit and heading for an open hanger bay.

"I waited my entire life for this" Tammy brushed the controls with one hand as she swung it around and brought the Battlecruiser into view.

"My god…" David breathed. A gigantic ship was sat in a cradle with a number of small craft pouring out of her. Her green hull stood out against the blackness of space and spotights picked out certain parts of the ship being worked on. Even inside the cradle, she oozed power and control from a few simple looks. "All I ask is a tall ship, and a star to sail her by…" he whispered.

"_Sera_"

"Excuse me?"

"That's the _Sera_, the first of her class. According to the specifications, she's got a hull that is six feet thick, particle and fusion cannons, torpedoes, missiles, point defence weaponry, kinetic weaponry, the latest in cloak, shields, engines and sensors"

"She's a predator" David said.

"Indeed" said Tammy and then touched a panel on the console before her. "dok komanda, tova e transfer sedem sedem delta na podkhod kŭm Sera s dve chovek ekip da se grizhi za problema na reaktora"

"_Razbira , sedem sedem delta. Imaĭte predvid, che nie se evakuirat poslednata ot ekipazha sega. Imate li nuzhda ot neshto drugo , za da zavŭrshite vashata zadacha_?"

"Dobre bi bilo da se evakuirat na podsŭdimata skameĭka , kakto dobre. Ako reaktorŭt otiva kritichno , mozhe da ne razpolagat s dostatŭchno vreme, za da vlyazat v speshnite shushulki"

"_Razbrano , sedem sedem delta. Nie se evakuirat na podsŭdimata skameĭka sega. komanda navŭn_"

"Do I want to know what that was?"

"I was saying that they had better evacuate the dock as well in case we are unable to stop the leak" she touched another button on what David took to be the communications system. "Ship, we are approaching the _Sera_ now. Be ready to reverse the process on our command"

"_I understand_"

"Once we are off the ship, we'll have to get to the Command Decks and onto the Bridge" said Tammy as she cut the engines and brought the ship in to land. "Ship, can you close the bay doors and begin the restoration process"

"_Understood_"

"Come on" Tammy said as she undid her harness and hurried to the hatch, "They will pick up the reactor returning to normal levels quickly"

"Lay on McDuff"

#

The Bridge of the _Sera_ was straight out of the box and many of the stations had never even been used. A large console at the front with what looked to be the same basic type of controls had to be the pilots chair. It had a number of screen that flashed and scrolled with information. Along the sides, turning slightly into the Bridge were a number of other consoles and stations. The rear of the Bridge contained some sort of table that might be used for discussions and plotting as well as monitors and displays.

"_Navigator, the ruse has been detected. We are ordered to surrender and prepare to be boarded_"

"That'll be the day" said Tammy darkly. "Ship, can you raise shields?"

"_I am unable to do anything but that what I am already able to do so_"

"David, can you take Tactical? I need to plot us a course out of here"

"I should do that, I'm the Navigator"

"Yes, of course… So navigate to the Tactical station and raise shields" Tammy smiled.

"Right…" David looked round the Bridge and picked the most likely place. Standing into the console, he found a button marked 'Shields' and pressed it firmly down. "Shields up" he reported. "If I am reading this, then I see three large ships closing in on our position fast - three minutes until intercept"

"I have a course plotted, but we'll need to get into open space to use the Jump Drive" Tammy said. "Can you arm weapons and fire on them?" she asked.

"I… I think so" David pushed a few likely buttons and an alarm sounded three times and a message in Phaelon came up. "I don't think that weapons are going to work" he said. Tammy came over from the piloting console and read the message.

"It says that the energy for the weapons can't get to them because some parts are not turned on" the young Phaelon condensed the message for David's benefit.

"What about kinetic rounds?" he asked her. "Can we fire those at all?" and Tammy tapped at the console screen and pressed buttons.

"Only the forward batteries are operational" she replied.

"Well show me how to target and shoot then get us out of here" and Tammy did that and the little symbols changed from green to red on the grid square filled map.

"Kinetic weapons online and targeted. Standing by to open fire"

"_We are being ordered to come to a stop and allow them to board us_" MAX said.

"Tell them to go shaft themselves" said David. "Tammy, closing in to us – one minute until intercept"

"Put a shot across their bow and then get ready to fire"

"Okay, but what do I shoot at?"

"Target weapons, shields and engines" Tammy said. "Top three buttons twice" and David tapped the top three buttons twice each and small circles appeared on the icons of the approaching Phaelon ships. "Ship, can you retract moorings?"

"_No_"

"Oh well" the young Phaelon shrugged. "David?"

"Yeah?"

"Hold on"

"Hooooollllyyyyy craaaaaapppppp" David strained under the sudden burst of speed from the engines as Tammy forcibly tore them from the dock cradle. "What the hell is wrong with the engines?"

"They have not yet been calibrated for use" Tammy replied as she worked the piloting controls and moved them away from the incoming vessels. "David get in that seat and press the large button that's red on the arm"

"Why?"

"Seatbelt"

"Seatbelt?" he asked in confusion as he pressed it. Almost as soon as it was holding him in place, Tammy put all the power she could into the engines and caused them to turn round and head directly at the three Cruisers. It took a few seconds before the arrow head formation broke apart with the trio veering off and attempting to get away. "Firing" and the kinetic weapons opened up and hit the shields of the Cruisers. After a few seconds of sustained fire, the shields flared and died and the rounds started to hit the hulls – breaching them in small and localised places. Within seconds, the smaller ships were drifting without main power, weapons or shields.

"_David and Tammy_" MAX called over the intercom, "_I am reading a number of Heavy Cruisers being ordered to intercept us. Reactors are stabilised and are at maximum efficiency. Cloaking device is available in all flight modes_"

"If I am reading this right, then the three Earth ships are staying out of this" David told Tammy.

"Would you fire on them?"

"In half a heartbeat" he assured her.

"Jump engines online… Standby for Jump in three… two… one… Jumping!" and there was a flash of white light and then the stars themselves seemed to stretch out and then contract as they Jumped away from the planet Phaelon and deep into uncharted space.

"Lowering shields and disarming weapons" said David and then undid the seatbelt to turn and look at his friend. "Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Yes… I have left behind, without any chance of returning, my entire planet and my people. I would not change what I have done, but it is still a shock to me. If you mean what that… _man_… did to me, I feel dirty, disgraced, ashamed, not worthy of life or of friendship with you"

"You have nothing to blame yourself for, Tammy" David moved over slowly and very carefully put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He felt her flinch at the touch, but she soon relaxed again.

"Thank you, Navigator. Our first task should be to take an inventory of the ship and see what we have in the way of fuel, ammunition and supplies. Then we can see about making repairs to Vessel 191…" she stopped and started again. "We can see about making repairs to Max. Like all large vessels, the _Sera _should be fitted with large repair shops, so we just have the cranes put him in one and then let the automatic repair drones deal with him whilst we take stock of our situation"

"Then lets go" said David, "But lets do it in the morning, shall we? After all that's happened, I could do with a long sleep"

"As could I"

"Then you can have the Captain's cabin and I'll take the one next to you. You need all the space you can get to try and relax after whats happened to you"

"Compliance, friend" and the left the Bridge to find quarters to sleep after setting the computers up to wake them in the event of trouble.

#

The knock on his cabin's door woke David up and he sat up a little and called out.

"Come in" and the door opened and Tammy stepped inside before closing it again.

"I tried sleeping, but everytime I try I see that man in my dreams and wake up screaming"

"Nightmares" David said.

"I am trying to lose some of my inhibitions, David, but this is embarrassing to ask" Tammy looked at the decking and twisted and wrung her hands. "May I sleep with you tonight? I… I don't want to be alone" and she blushed a bright shade of orange.

"Come on" David pulled up the cover and Tammy slipped into the bed and pulled the cover back over her.

"I thank you for this" Tammy said. "On Phaelon, it is not done for an unmarried man and woman to sleep together. Since we've been 'On the Run' as you put it, I have tried to put aside some of the things taught to me as a youngling, but it took me a long time to get the courage to ask your permission"

"You're having nightmares about something that should never ever have happened" David said. "There is nothing to be ashamed of at all, and that man is never going to hurt you again – I saw to that"

"And I thank yo–" Tammy stopped speaking and frowned in confusion. "David?"

"Yes?" he asked sleepily. The bedding in the crew cabins of the _Sera_ were the best he had ever used and he was already just about asleep.

"Whats that digging into my back…?"

**A/N:**

**Well I hope you enjoyed that and will leave a review.**

**The addition of more backstory for Tammy came after a discussion with another author who asked, without any prompting or hinting, if Tammy had been abused when she was younger. That interested me and I spent a day looking back at the fic so far and agreed that it could be one way of interpreting that.**

**Also, if you notice, she switches with calling MAX 'Ship' all the time and calls him by the name it wishes – ending up doing so by chapter's end – a great moment for the character.**

**The name of the ship that David is forcibly taken to was going to be called the **_Yorktown_ **but I changed the name to the **_Robin Williams_** with the shuttles **_Mork and Mindy_** being assigned to her after I heard the terrible news the other day. In-Story, the not mentioned explanation is that some joker named the shuttles after the show he was a star of.**

**The name of the Battlecruiser that they take, **_Sera_**, is named after the same God that Tammy invokes when she did her ceremony on the planet back in Chapter 3.**

**The title of this chapter is so named because David wonders about leaving Phaelon by himself or taking Tammy with him. Also, they **_**were**_** planning an escape in case the trial went badly.**

**But, anyway… I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and I will look forward to answering each and everyone of your reviews or PMs**

**Regards**

**Pixel and Stephanie**


	6. Space Weather

**Space Weather**

"That's about all we can do for now" said Tammy. "All repairs now will be made by the automatic systems" and David nodded and wiped his hands on the coveralls purloined from an equipment locker in the _Sera_'s spacecraft repair shops.

"I could do with a break" he said to her, "But I had better get cleaned up first"

"Before we do, may we first check on the rest of the systems? As you know, David, the _Sera_ left dock without most of her systems activated. It was only luck that a single bank of weapons, the main drive and cloak were operational and I wish to ensure that everything works before we think of what to do next"

"Sounds about right. Max, are you able to sort things yourself?" he asked the ship that had brought them to this point in their lives.

"_Automatic repairs have started, David. I estimate four weeks until all systems are online and operational_"

"Right. Well, we're off a break, so you had better transfer to the Bridge"

"_Compliance, Navigator_"

"David, may I ask what your intentions are?"

"Eat food" David replied.

"That's not what I meant" said Tammy with a smile. "We now have the most powerful Battleship in the galaxy under our control, but we have very little in the way of consumable supplies. We shall need to stop off somewhere and resupply"

"But…?"

"But if we go to any space station, the news of our location will surely reach my people and they will send the entire fleet after us" Tammy said.

"Well I don't suppose you have any 7-11's round here… How much time do we have until we run out of stuff?"

"Six weeks" Tammy replied. "However, I believe the Ship's Manifest lists several stores of emergency rations on Decks 2, 6 and 10. The _Sera_ was not ready to be launched, but we are bringing more and more systems on by the day. If this had taken place in another three weeks, then adequate consumable supplies would have been loaded aboard"

"What if we found a station, hid on the outer edges of the system under the cloak and then went over in the shuttle?"

"That may work. Some questions will be asked, but our shuttle is a long range version that can be disguised somewhat. If there is any trouble, then the _Sera _can jump in, lower the cloak and charge her forward weapons grid"

"Assuming we can get the things online" said David. "If you want, I can go back to reading the manuals whilst you do some installation. Better you do it, taking the time to do it right, then me who might blow up half the ship"

"You would not blow up half the ship" Tammy patted his shoulder, "But maybe a quarter" and she hopped out of the lift and hurried to her quarters.

"_David?_" Max's voice filtered through the intercom.

"Yes?" David pressed the nearest intercom unit.

"_Sensors are detecting a Class 7 Spatial Phenomenon_" MAX said over the channel.

"What is one of those?" he asked.

"_This one is a black hole with extreme gravitational variances and effects_"

"Is it any danger to us?"

"_No_"

"_David?_" Tammy's voice came from the speaker.

"Yes?"

"_May we please have a look at it? I realise that we are supposed to be doing other things, but this is the type of thing I have always wanted to have a look at if given the chance_"

"Once a scientist…" David smiled. "I suppose I'd like to take a look as well… Max, can you handle the course?"

"_Affirmative_"

"Then plot us a course to there, put it in the navicomp and take us there"

"_Compliance_" and the computer closed the link. David went into his quarters, next door to Tammy's, and took off the coveralls and stepped into the shower. They had, through mutual agreement, taken cabins near to the Bridge so they would be closer to it should their presence be needed. MAX was now implanted into the computer of the _Sera _and managed the helm and navigation, monitoring of the sub-systems and watched over the reactor and power supplies. According to design specifications that Tammy had looked at in the Engineering files, the ship was capable of hosting an Interactive Computer Analytic and Responsive Software System but had not had it installed by the time it was taken by the pair. After installing a few things on MAX, it now gave him the ability to go back and forth between his own ship and the _Sera_ – giving him some freedom to do things he wanted to do.

#

After getting cleaned up and grabbing a small bite to eat from the Galley, David and Tammy strolled onto the bridge and looked at the displays. David had never seen a black hole so close up before, so he stared at the readouts with wondrous eyes.

"Max, can you drop to normal space and plot an approach vector that brings us no more than two hundred thousand kilometres from the edge of gravitational instability please" Tammy ordered.

"Compliance" and figures flashed up on the Helm console as MAX carried out the instructions. The soft hum of the engines dropped to an almost inaudible level as MAX took the ship out of main drive and brought them in on the sublight engines.

"I am bringing it up on the main screen" Tammy pressed some buttons and put the image up for David. Although the hole was invisible itself, it was pulling in bit of dust, stars, comets and all manner of things which could be seen as it slowly ate its way through planets and nearby space.

"Woah…"

"It is impressive" agreed Tammy. "I am setting the sensors to record all the data I can gather. It should be completed in around seven ho–" she was cut off as the ship shuddered and alarms sounded.

"Forward kinetic weapons armed, forward torpedo loaders are not responding, missile delivery system activated – shields are raised" MAX said through the sirens.

"Can you get rid of the noise?" asked David as he picked himself up off the deck. "Report!"

"The black hole has increased its size above projected estimates. There was no prior warning in order to take avoiding action" MAX reported. "The _Sera_ is being dragged into the singularity"

"Turn us around and get away" Tammy said as she accepted help from David to stand up again.

"I am unable to do so. Any manoeuvres such as those that you requested would result in the loss of the ship and crew"

"Maintain position"

"I am unable to do so" said MAX.

"Max, override the safeties on the core programming and put all engines in full reverse now. That is an order from your Navigator" David spoke sharply. The engines whined loudly as MAX obeyed the order.

"We are holding position. However, engines will overload and fail in forty two minutes" he said.

"Can we take the shuttle?"

"The effects from that thing out there would tear us to shreds" Tammy said, crossing to the Science station and looking at the readings. "Ship, do you have any torpedoes or missiles ready for launch?"

"Three Mark 17 are in torpedo tubes one to three"

"Dial them up to the maximum yield and prepare to fire"

"At what? There is nothing to shoot at"

"True, David, but I am not targeting anything at all. I am hoping that a combination of our engines at full reverse and the shockwave will at least gain us additional hours to solve this issue"

"I am receiving an incoming communication" MAX announced. "It is garbled – attempting to boost power to communications systems. The torpedoes have been set to maximum explosive yield"

"Fire" and three torpedoes launched from the tubes and headed in a direct line for the middle of the black hole. "Now this is where it gets interesting"

"How many times have you done this?"

"Never"

"Never?"

"This is my first time. Max? Detonate"

"Compliance" and he detonated the torpedoes. The explosive energy wave pushed the _Sera_ into a better position and Tammy recalculated the amount of time they had left.

"We have gained an additional sixteen hours" she announced.

"I have been able to get the incoming message cleared up. It is a signal of Phaelon origin and appears to be from a _Sera_ class vessel" MAX said.

"But there are no others like us"

"That fact is true. However, I am reading a signal with the communications…" MAX stopped in mid-sentence. "David and Tammy, the reason that the signal sounds like it is from a _Sera_ class ship is because it is _us_"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"The signal is coming in from the black hole. Time is heavily distorted towards the middle of the hole, so the only solution is that we sent a signal back in time to ourselves" Tammy frowned. It was an action that David found rather cute. "Accept communication and record. Visualise on main screen"

"Compliance"

"_This is a message from the future_" an injured looking Tammy spoke. Her head was bandaged heavily and a figure could be seen darting back and forth from console to console in the background. "_By now you will have encountered the black hole and become floundered on the edge of the accretion disk. All of our attempts to escape have failed, and we are using the last reserves of power to send this message back through the time eddies so that we can give ourselves a better chance of survival. By now, your computers should be receiving a data packet containing all of the sensor data we had until they went offline_"

"We are receiving data" MAX confirmed

"_With luck, there will be enough time for you to work out a rescue of yourselves. If not, then the data also contains modifications to your communications system to do what we h_–" the screen suddenly exploded in a bright white light as the Bridge of the _Sera_ exploded before the screen shut off and returned to the forward view.

"Transmission terminated. I cannot recover" reported MAX.

"I don't think you will be able to" said David quietly. "Okay, so we need to look at the data quickly and understand it… Max? Does the ship have a mind scan like you do?"

"No"

"Well it looks as if I am going to have to go back to science class pretty quickly" said the teen.

"You are tired" said Tammy. "You should have a few moments of sleep whilst I examine the data and formulate a theory"

"You need my help"

"What I need is somebody who can be rested and more clear headed" said Tammy. "You need the sleep more then I do. I could hear you faintly last night tossing and turning in your bed" and David worked hard to keep a blush off his face. He was tossing and turning in bed, but it had not been from lack of sleep or nightmares…

"Fine, I'll have two or three hours" he agreed.

"That is acceptable. I should have gone over most data by that point, and Max can help me with the rest of it" and David shrugged before going to his cabin for some sleep.

"There is only a 23% chance of escaping this without serious damage" MAX said. "If even one thruster is knocked offline, the odds of us being trapped like our future previous selves are 100%"

"You and I know that, but I can't let David know there is almost no chance of getting out of here" Tammy said. "Max, what is the temperature of the engine bells?" she asked, sitting at the Engineering station.

"Seven thousand degrees"

"What is the maximum rated figure for them?"

"Seven thousand degrees"

"That is not what I mean. Assuming that the engines are shut down the moment we reach a safe distance to cool down, how much of an increase can they handle?"

"Calculating… Calculating… Calculating… Assuming the parameters you set are done, the engines can handle a maximum temperature of nine thousand seven hundred degrees for a total time of three minutes before they begin to fail by melting"

"So we buy ourselves an extra three minutes…" Tammy mused as she worked on several calculations on the console. "If we run the engines at full power, we should be able to escape any shock wave we create"

"But we have no weapons to cause such a wave" said MAX. "If we did, we still would not have a delivery system as the forward missile launchers are down and the silo hatches are closed from safety protocols"

"What about the torpedoes?"

"The torpedoes are not able to be armed due to power diversion to main engines"

"Can we arm the torpedoes manually?"

"Yes… However the torpedoes we have in stock are not sufficient to create a disrupting shockwave"

"Then we'll have to make them more powerful. Max, call up the magazine loading manifest"

"Compliance" and MAX fed the information to where Tammy was sitting.

"Oh" said Tammy. "Well that was something we overlooked"

# # # # #

David stumbled onto the Bridge after getting four hours sleep, drinking what he had discovered was the Phaelon version of coffee. It seemed stronger then what he had had back home on Earth, but it certainly got you awake after you got up – though David wondered if this was more due to his Human biology then the strongness. He listened to the plan that Tammy and MAX had come up with before setting the mug on the Operations station console as he sat down.

"Let me get this right" he said, "You want to nuke a black hole?"

"Yes"

"And this is our only option to escape?"

"We have run the calculations five times, David, and only once did we get a differing result" MAX told him.

"Okay, okay… Run through the plan again" he finished the mug.

"We can not launch any missiles because the silo doors are hardwired to remain shut in the event of extreme radiation. The plan is to take two nuclear missiles out of silos 1 and 3, remove the nuclear material and place it in a torpedo along with a small quantity of Samanthaite that is being drained from the engines"

"Is that part of what powers the engines?"

"No… It is a waste by-product of the process" Tammy explained. "Once we have completed that, we'll load the torpedoes into the tubes and fire the main engines to take us towards the black hole. Because of the additional speed we will pick up due to gravity pulling us in, we must fire the torpedoes before making our breakaway manoeuvre. When we have made that, Max will automatically increase the power to as much as possible before the engines start to melt. With luck, the resulting detonation of the torpedoes will either disrupt the gravity field or invert the black hole itself so that we get a push from it – getting us clear of the area"

"And that is our only option?" David asked.

"That is our only option" confirmed Tammy. "The decision is yours, David, as Navigator"

"I said I was only going to use that to settle differences between you and Max, so we each have an equal say in the matter. Lets vote… Max?"

"I vote for the plan"

"Tammy?"

"I vote in favour"

"As do I" David looked between Tammy and the main screen that was swirling colours – MAX's default setting when inside _Sera_'s main computer. "Well, we're all agreed that's what we'll do – lets get to work"

#

The work to safely remove nuclear material took a long time with only two people – neither of whom were trained nuclear engineers. Tammy had a more then basic working knowledge from her work on spacecraft, but not with regards to nuclear weapons. After they had removed the stuff and placed it in the torpedoes, they packed in the Samanthaite and place them into the tubes – ready for firing. After going through decontamination and a shower in their quarters after being in the heavy work safety suits, they went back to the Bridge were MAX was waiting for them.

"Navigator" it spoke formally, "We are three minutes away from the point at which we must launch our attempt. I am running final computations on our course which will be entered into the Navigational computers. During this attempt, all energy will be diverted to the engines which means there will be no energy based weapons available. One of you will have to man the kinetic weapons systems"

"I'll fire the weapons" said Tammy. "David is the one best suited to flying the ship on the course"

"Your people built the ship – you fly. I've got more 'Asteroid' time so I'll point and shoot"

"_Asteroid_" Tammy frowned in confusion.

"An Earth game… I'll show you later" said David. "Look, the simple matter is that you can read the displays quicker than me and know what to do"

"Very well… If that is your decision, then I will comply with it" said Tammy and slipped into the pilot's chair at the Helm. "We should arm the Auto Destruct in case this fails"

"I think you are right" said David. "Max? Arm Auto Destruct"

"Requesting authorisation codes" MAX spoke in cold terms. David assumed this was the core programming of the _Sera_ kicking in and taking hold. He made a note to change that at the first chance they had.

"We do not have any codes" said Tammy. She realised that the _Sera _had clearly not been fully programmed with all of the command codes her crew would need before she and David had stolen it.

"If I do not have authorisation codes, your access is restricted" MAX replied coldly.

"Here goes nothing" David muttered. "Computer, this is the Navigator of the PNV _Sera_. Destruct Sequence One"

"Confirmed" MAX said. "Please state authorisation code"

"Code 1 1A"

"Second code required"

"Just say 'Two B'" David whispered to Tammy who looked at David with puzzlement. She simply shrugged as there was nothing to lose.

"Computer, this is Tamilikansqueseverkin-toola Kurch – Chief Science Officer of the PNV _Sera_. Destruct Sequence 1 – Code 1 1B 2B"

"Destruct Sequence computed and engaged – awaiting code for one minute countdown"

"Code 0-0-0-DESTRUCT-0" David said. "Hold until resume order is given"

"Compliance" and then the real MAX came back. "WOAH! What the heck was that, Davie?"

"Batman Gambit" he laughed. "I'll tell you about it later. Max…? I know you said you need almost all the power, but what does that mean exactly?" David asked as he sat at Tactical and selected the Kinetic Weapons.

"I will need to take weapons from all areas of the ship including life support" came the reply.

"If you turn the lights off on the Bridge, and the consoles as well, could you spare me power to the launchers for the weapons?"

"That has already been taken into account"

"I meant for what passes as AirCon on here. The launchers are going to get hot and I want to keep them as cool as possible" David said.

"Compliance" and all the consoles except the Tactical, Helm, Engineering and a lone screen at the Science station all blinked off. The Bridge lights dimmed almost to nothing as a set of emergency lighting flickered on. "Navigator, in order to conserve power I must turn myself off. The Engine Room computers have been programmed to begin the increase in engine ability on a command from the Helm"

"Are you going to be alright, Max?" asked Tammy.

"I…" Max's lights stopped blinking. "I do not know the answer to this. This has never been attempted before in known science. Computer projections indicate a high probability that this will not work"

"Well I was never one for the odds" David looked through the strange darkness at Tammy as she touched controls at her console. "What about you?" he asked.

"I am a scientist"

"I'll take that as a no then" David laughed and turned back to the console screens. "Weapons systems are partially offline. I have two torpedoes in tubes 1 and 2 set to self guidance. All other tubes and missile silos are inoperative. All energy based weapons are down, but kinetic weapons are operations. No contacts on the scopes"

"Lets do this" said Tammy. "Max?"

"Yes?"

"If this does not work, I just want to say thank you for helping"

"I was merely helping a friend" the computer replied. "And, if this does not work… Thank you – to both of you" and then after a final swirl of the lights, the computer shut down leaving only what was needed on.

"Well he we go then" David said.

"Commencing forward thrust" Tammy manipulated the controls. "Engines answering all ahead"

"Tracking targets… Nothing that threatens us" David said. "Computer estimates about… _something_ until firing time for the torpedoes"

"Something?"

"The system is set up in Phaelon" David replied. "I can't actually read it" he added.

"Then we'll cross that bridge later" Tammy said. "We are being pulled deeper towards the centre of the black hole – motion reducers are at maximum capacity" she added. With no screen to look at, David and Tammy had to make do with a wireframe of their Tactical and Helm stations to see what was coming.

"I have two angry red lights" said David after two minutes.

"Fire torpedoes"

"Torpedoes away" and two little dots appeared on their screens heading towards the dead centre of the black hole.

"Beginning slingshot course…" Tammy fired the thrusters and nudged the ship away and into a hairpin turn around the gravitational disturbance of the black hole.

"Picking up debris" said David. "Tracking… Tracking… FIRING!" and he fired large slugs from the side batteries which impacted the cosmic rock and broke it up. "Target destroyed" he added.

"And so might we be" Tammy said as she struggled with the controls. "Helm is going unresponsive"

"Can you fix it?"

"No"

"Well burn the starboard thrusters out if you have to. If we can't keep the course, we're David and Tammy flavoured pancakes"

"Compliance, Navigator" Tammy slapped the override on the thrusters control panel and ordered them to burn full force. "Time to detonation?" she enquired.

"Um… I think a minute and a half" David said. All of a sudden, the Science station and the Tactical station started beeping and crying in the same pattern for attention. "I could be wrong though… Both torpedoes have detonated"

"I see it!" Tammy sounded hopeful. "The black hole is inverting and gravitational stress is being reduced - Shockwave approaching. David, can you attempt to raise shields?"

"I wouldn't know how" said the teen.

"Never mind" Tammy shrugged. "Brace for impact"

"_Impact_?" David had just enough time to sound annoyed before the _Sera _shook violently with dozens of alarms sounding even louder than normal in the quiet Bridge.

"We're getting out of here" said Tammy. "Gravity pull is even more reduced, but engines are approaching the point of critical failure"

"Keep pushing" said David, and then looked at his screen. "I don't know how or why, but I have two torpedoes in the aft tubes. The little lines are at the far side so I assume that means at full yield"

"Yes"

"Good… Firing torpedoes" he pressed the launching button. Seconds later, he pressed the detonation button and the force of the explosion was just enough to push them over the boundary of the collapsing black hole.

"We are clear and free to navigate" said Tammy. "Controls to full stop…" and she shut down the engines. "Now reading full stop. Congratulations, Navigator" she turned to look at David, "We just became the first people to nuke a black hole"

"Can we not do that again?" he asked. Tammy laughed as she crossed to the Engineering station and entered a few commands. All at once, the Bridge consoles powered on, the lights came to full brightness and all the systems became fully working once more.

"Vessel 1918 online" MAX said. "Good Morning, Dave"

"Actually, we nearly didn't make it. Engines took a bit of a battering, so we're staying put until they've completely cooled down. Can you run a full damage check on everything?"

"I would be happy to. Might I suggest that you refresh yourselves and go to sleep?" MAX suggested.

"Sleep? Compliance" and then passed out. Tammy rushed over and checked over David.

"He has merely become exhausted through stress, strain and tiredness" she said. "I will take him to his cabin and make sure he is alright. Handle the damage checks and the repairs as needed. Low power mode as well, please… Don't want anybody spotting us"

"Compliance" MAX replied as Tammy used her superior strength to pick David up and carry him to the cabin he had claimed.

**A/N:**

**Well I hope you enjoyed that and will leave a review.**

**Okay, before you ask… David was playing a partial Batman Gambit in that he knew that he and Tammy didn't have authorisation codes to arm the Auto/Self Destruct for the **_Sera _**but knew that MAX was in the computer and had scanned his mind during the events set out in the time of the movie. Given the year it happened, 1986, there is a good chance that at some point David saw Star Trek III and remembered the **_Enterprise _**blowing up. He therefore banked on that knowledge still being a part of MAX when transferred to **_Sera_'s** mainframe. Therefore, when the ship, through MAX, searched for compatible orders and codes from David and Tammy, all it could come up with were the codes used in the Star Trek III film – and therefore accepting those as valid codes. Tammy and MAX already referred to him as the ship's Navigator, so he called himself that as his supposed Rank and most likely made Tammy the Chief Science Officer just in case she ever needed to be called such. David was lucky his gambit paid off even if he didn't need to use it!**

**PNV stands for Phaelon Naval Vessel. In this story, the Phaelon armed forces comprises of their Naval service, a large Army and some sort of an Air Force – along with all of the various sub departments. Each service has its own High Command who are under the combined leadership of a General Staff made up of members of each command with the leader referred to as the Chief of the General Staff. I'm building the Phaelons up more British orientated because I hate reading stories where everything is "Americanised". Plus, being British myself, its easier for me to base on what I know and know well. To the people wishing for a complete list of the complete design specifications of the **_Sera_**, one will be made available to you upon request. I actually made entire files just for reference and backstory – so you can look at those if you want.**

**Regards**

**Pixel and Stephanie**


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